


All the Best Trouble

by Mireille



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Aliens Made Them Do It, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dubious Consent, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-03-06 07:17:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 53,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18846265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mireille/pseuds/Mireille
Summary: While the rest of the Revengers are busy elsewhere, Thor sends Loki and Tony on what looks to be a routine trading mission. Unfortunately, they weren't adequately informed about some of the local customs, and what they thought was strictly a formality--Tony having to register as Loki's "bondservant" for the duration of their visit--turns out to be much more complicated.





	1. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lovelies! Here's something to take your mind off that movie that didn't actually happen, no matter what anyone says. (Sequel to that OTHER movie that didn't actually happen.) 
> 
> This fic exists in a universe where Thanos never got the Infinity Stones and, some time after the events of _Thor: Ragnarok_ , Tony has joined forces with the Revengers. It's being posted in chapters, once a week (generally on Thursdays unless something intervenes), but it has been completely written, revised, and edited. The only thing I'm doing from week to week is a final proofreading pass, so I should be able to post according to my schedule. The last full draft I did had about 53K words, so allowing for any last-minute tweaking, the final word count should be somewhere between 50K and 55K. 
> 
> Eternal thanks to soft_princess, as always, for being the best wife, cheerleader, alpha reader, and BFF any fic writer could hope to have.

****

"I'm not going to pretend to be your servant," Tony said, without looking up from the duffel bag he was packing with the supplies he'd need while he and Loki were planet-side.

Tony might not have been able to see Loki's expression, but from the scoffing sound coming from behind him, Loki was giving him the look Tony had mentally categorized as "Ugh, _humans._ " 

"Weren't you listening? You're not going to have a choice. The laws are very strict on Ghalus; if you aren't a registered bondservant, you won't be allowed out of the spaceport. And as much as I hate to admit it, we do need your expertise. Otherwise, I'd handle this mission alone, and you could go with the Valkyrie to trade for more supplies." Loki moved around into Tony's field of vision, sitting down on the edge of the bunk. 

"You'd handle it alone?" Tony snorted. "Not likely. I thought Thor said the Ghalusians needed to be handled with 'tact and diplomacy'?" 

In the five months since Tony had decided to accept Thor's invitation and travel with him and the rest of the so-called Revengers (throwing in his lot with groups with ridiculous names was apparently becoming a bad habit with him), he'd gotten used to this kind of thing. They'd arrive at a planetary cluster--several inhabited star systems close enough together to not require a hyperspace jump to travel between them--and divide up to trade, negotiate, or otherwise acquire what they needed. 

Sometimes it was information; Thor was still trying to track down any Asgardians who might have been offworld at the time of Hela's conquest. 

Sometimes it was diplomacy, making certain that Asgard's former allies and trade partners knew that Asgard wasn't gone, at least not completely. It was currently a small settlement in rural Norway, but Asgard lived. 

Sometimes, of course, they were trading for supplies--either things that the Asgardians couldn't get on Earth, or things they needed on the ship. 

Right now, it was all three. Thor--and Bruce, who wasn't good at not irritating important people, but was better at it than any of the other three--had already been left in a nearby system whose government was interested in re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Asgardians. Thor as a diplomat wasn't necessarily something Tony found easy to picture; he was more used to the idea of Thor as the guy who hit things with a very heavy hammer. But as a prince, Thor must have been taught something about diplomacy, and he was getting results.

It seemed weird for a king to go out on a diplomatic mission instead of sending an envoy, but the Asgardians' diplomatic position was precarious enough that it was apparently _reasonable_ to send their king out, in the hopes that he would be able to make deals that an underling couldn't. 

At least, that was the official justification; the real reason was that Thor had decided he was going, had told Heimdall to run things while he was gone, and was _damn well going_. Tony figured if anybody deserved a little while to get his head together after everything that had happened to Asgard in general and to himself in particular, it was Thor. 

Besides, Tony wasn't hypocritical enough to blame anybody for walking away from his responsibilities, not after he hadn't even hesitated when Thor invited him along. He'd packed a couple of bags, called Pepper--in her role as the Stark Industries CEO, since their on-again, off-again relationship had been, well, off again--and told her he was leaving, and left. 

He wasn't planning to be gone forever. He'd probably stay behind the next time they returned to Earth, whenever that was. For right now, though, being light-years away from home was exactly what Tony wanted. 

After she left Tony and Loki on Ghalus, Valkyrie was going to take the ship to yet another system in the area, one that was a thriving trade hub. According to her, if you couldn't buy it in the markets on Freyne, you couldn't buy it, period. It wouldn't take long for her to restock, so she'd have a couple of days to enjoy herself; that was why she always volunteered for the supply run.

But Thor had been adamant that the situation on Ghalus would have to be handled carefully, which in no way suggested to Tony that either he or Loki was the right man for the job. 

"Persuasion and diplomacy _are_ among my skills," Loki said, sounding distinctly miffed. "Am I not Loki Silvertongue?" 

Tony shrugged. "I figured you're the one who came up with that name," he said, trying to hide his grin, "and you can't trust a nickname somebody gave himself." 

"Of course that's what you would claim to believe," Loki said. "Regardless, your technical knowledge is needed on Ghalus, and if you wish to set foot anywhere but the spaceport--"

"I have to pretend to be your servant," Tony said wearily. "Yeah, I get it. I think it's bullshit, but I get it." 

But why did it have to be _Loki_? 

He and Loki had circled one another warily for the first month or so that Tony was on board, but by now, they got along pretty well. When Loki wasn't trying to conquer Tony's planet or take over his friends' minds or throw him out a window, he wasn't bad company. His sense of humor wasn't that far removed from Tony's own; more inclined toward pranks and trickery than Tony was, maybe, but since Tony had come on board, he hadn't done anything truly vicious or dangerous. He'd just dedicated his life to annoying the shit out of Thor. 

Tony didn't have a brother, but he had Rhodey, so he could understand the temptation.

But Thor wasn't going to be around, and Tony didn't particularly want Loki to decide that annoying the shit out of Tony was a decent substitute. Especially when Tony was supposed to be a servant, and therefore not supposed to tell Loki to go fuck himself when he got too annoying. 

"My _bondservant_ ," Loki corrected him. 

"Same thing." Tony zipped up the duffel and turned to the next one. The first bag held the equipment he'd need to test the advanced electronics they'd be trading for and the scanners he'd rigged up for the mineral ores the Asgardians needed. This smaller bag, the boring bag, was for his clothes and other personal effects. Good thing nobody expected space travelers to be the height of fashion.

Loki picked up the bag of equipment. "You really don't need all of this. I can cast a spell that will let us know if any of the ores don't contain the minerals we were promised." 

"Maybe so, but your magic won't tell you whether the electronics are what we want, because you don't know enough engineering," Tony said. "Also, I'd rather trust something I understand." 

He probably could have built what the Asgardians needed, to be honest, but it was easier to buy the parts, since they'd require developing tech not yet known on Earth. Tony _had_ told Thor that he planned to claim a small fraction of the components for himself, reverse-engineer them, put his own spin on the technology, and look for potential applications, though. 

Thor had only laughed and said that he'd have expected no less, and that he looked forward to being able to get the components they needed from Stark Industries in a few years. 

"Getting back to my point," Loki said, "you don't have to pretend to be my servant. You have to pledge yourself as my bondservant for the duration of the time we're on Ghalus." 

"What's the difference?" 

"For one thing, if you manage to cause trouble, as I expect you will within the first fifteen minutes we're on the planet, I'll be held responsible. You've got the easy part of the bargain," he went on, smiling slightly. "You only have to do what I tell you. I have to be responsible for your behavior." 

Tony shoved a sweater into his bag and then frowned. "I don't get it. What's this whole bondservant thing about?"

"I only know the basic parameters," Loki admitted. "I've never actually been to Ghalus." 

For a minute, Tony was tempted to make a big display of shock that Loki admitted--to a so-called "mortal," even--that there was something he didn't know. His curiosity about Ghalus and their weird rules won out, though; if he annoyed Loki, Loki was perfectly capable of clamming up and not giving Tony another detail. "I don't even know those. And if you're responsible for my good behavior, maybe I ought to have some clue about what the rules are." 

Loki's response was to conjure up an illusion that resembled one of Tony's computer displays, a representation of a planetary system surrounding a reddish sun. "That," he began, as the fifth planet from the sun, a green-blue orb vaguely resembling Earth, brightened, "is the planet Ghalus." 

"We're starting with an astronomy lesson?" 

"We're starting with an interplanetary politics lesson," Loki said. 

"Oh, goody."

"You're the one who asked. I don't have to explain the situation to you, if you'd rather." 

"Okay, fine. That's Ghalus." 

"And this," Loki went on, as the next planet inward--a little smaller and redder--lit up on his illusion, "is Aruta, the other inhabited planet in the system."

"Could you get on with it, or is there going to be a quiz later?"

Loki glared at him, but apparently felt like this was important enough for him to keep going. "The inhabitants of Ghalus are, in many ways, similar to Asgardians or to the people of Vanaheim; they look very similar to your people, but they're also somewhat taller on the average, a good deal stronger, and very long-lived in comparison. In contrast, the Arutans are... mortal." 

Tony rolled his eyes. "You're not actually immortal. I could kill you if I tried hard enough." 

"We aren't actually gods, either, but from from your lowly perspective, we may as well be." 

"Is there a god of being a pain in the ass? Because if so, I'm actually willing to acknowledge that it's you. Anyway," he went on before Loki could reply, "if they're 'mortal,' you mean the Arutans are closer to human beings, right?" 

"Precisely. And the two worlds have had a lot of--shall we say, differences of opinion?--over the past several millennia, ever since they discovered space flight. Whether or not it's accurate, the Ghalusians tend to think of the people of Aruta as hot-tempered, violent, uncultured--just a step or two above beasts. And because of that, they don't allow any member of a mortal race to set foot on Ghalus, at least not outside a secure section of the spaceport, unless they're registered as bondservant to a Ghalusian, or to a member of a race similar to the Ghalusians." 

"That makes them sound like assholes," Tony said. "Why are we even doing business with them?" 

"Some of our technology requires a steady supply of jethracite," Loki said. "And since it's not found in your solar system in even trace amounts, we have to find a trade partner who can provide it. Ghalus is one of the galaxy's leading exporters of jethracite ore, and they have a long history of peaceful trade with Asgard, so it makes sense to capitalize on that now."

"You keep saying we're trading," Tony said. "What are we even trading _with_? New Asgard isn't exactly brimming with resources at the moment."

"Knowledge, for the most part," Loki said, "which is another reason for me to be the one to accompany you. Asgard has generally kept its magic to itself, for obvious reasons, but it's just about the only thing we have to offer right now. They wish to learn some of our--let's call them 'trade secrets.' More concretely, the Ghalusians require some enchantments that are better performed using our magic than theirs. Finally, of course, it is quite likely that the government of Ghalus will appreciate having the king of Asgard in its debt." 

Tony sighed. There wasn't much in that explanation that Tony could _really_ object to. He'd done business with some fairly shady assholes in the past; Ghalus sounded weird and stupidly prejudiced, but they could have been worse. Besides, it didn't really sound like he had all that much choice beyond "suck it up and deal."

"So what does this 'bondservant' thing entail? I'm not going to have to do your laundry and shine your shoes, am I? Because I'm going to warn you, I'm going to suck at it. Maybe on purpose." 

"You don't have to do anything," Loki assured him. "We'll arrive at the spaceport, register you as my bondservant, and that will be all. You won't be allowed to wander around the city without permission, and I'll be responsible for any trouble you cause, but you won't have any formal duties. I believe that initially, the idea was for the mortal races to actually serve the Ghalusians, but these days, and especially for offworlders, it's strictly a formality." 

"I still don't like it," Tony muttered. "And I can't really think of anyone I _wouldn't_ rather have be the boss of me than you." 

"I can hardly fathom the possibility that there might be another mortal I would _less_ prefer to take responsibility for," Loki replied. 

" _But_ ," Tony said loudly, drowning out Loki's last few words, "it could be a lot worse." And to be completely honest, Tony didn't mind that he and Loki were teamed up for this mission. If he had to work with one of the Asgardians--well, he and Valkyrie didn't ever have much to say to one another; they'd gotten drunk together a time or two, but that was the extent of their "bonding." 

And Thor would be fine, but Loki was definitely more fun to be around. And maybe if Loki was promising to let the Ghalusians in on some of the secrets of Asgardian magic, Tony could listen in. He didn't want to learn how to do magic, but knowing how it worked would make it easier for him to design defenses against it, and when he asked Loki questions, he generally got told that it was too complicated for his feeble mind to comprehend. 

...and yet, he didn't mind spending time with Loki. They insulted one another, when they weren't arguing with or insulting other people, but to tell the truth, Tony usually enjoyed that. And, of course, there was the part where Loki wasn't exactly unpleasant to look at. At least, if your type included "tall, kind of gothy, and irritating as hell," and Tony's type covered an incredibly broad range. 

"Entertaining company" and "decent looking" wasn't a bad package, really, if you were choosing someone to spent weeks cooped up in a small spaceship with, particularly when Loki had his brother to exercise his tendency to mischief on. 

Just then, Valkyrie's voice cut in over the comms. "Are you two ready? I want to arrive at the capital market on Freyne at the start of the trading day, and you're slowing me down." 

Tony zipped up his second bag. "I'm ready whenever you are," he said to Loki. 

Loki hit the comms button. "We're ready. Take us down." 

Okay, this mission had some definite drawbacks--even being Loki's _pretend_ Jeeves sounded annoying as fuck, not to mention the whole "you're a lesser being" attitude the Ghalusians seemed to have going on, but fresh air and sunlight sounded like a good idea, not to mention water that hadn't been recycled a dozen times. 

Besides, Tony had only been in space for five months, and a lot of that time, he'd actually been _in space_. The coolness factor of "holy shit, I am literally walking around on another planet" hadn't worn off yet, if it was ever going to. Even if it didn't sound like a great place to visit, it was still a totally new civilization, and that was still worth investigating. And it didn't sound like the Ghalusians were going to be hostile, just annoying. 

And if they were hostile, well, he had his armor and Loki was Loki. They'd be all right.

****

"What the fuck does he mean, _manacles_?"

"Calm down," Loki hissed. "If they think I can't make you control yourself, we won't be allowed access to anything but this part of the spaceport, and I don't wish to remain here until the Valkyrie returns for us." 

Tony took a couple of deep breaths. "All right," he said, more quietly. "What does he mean by 'manacles'?" 

The spaceport official--a balding man who looked to be about a decade older than Tony (which meant, Tony reminded himself, that he was probably staring his three-thousandth birthday in its face)--cleared his throat. "Sir," he said, looking at Loki, "your bondservant is required to wear the manacles at all times while he is here."

"Are those really necessary?" Tony said. "I'm not going to run away. I don't want to run away. I'm here for a reason." 

The official, who had introduced himself to Loki as Sub-Administrator Pharen, completely ignored him. 

Loki gave an exasperated huff and repeated Tony's question. "Are they necessary? My companion--" Tony would have preferred "colleague," but at least it wasn't "bondservant"-- "Is hardly a flight risk. He's here voluntarily, and as our ship has already left orbit, there's really nowhere for him to go at the moment." 

"I'm sorry, sir," Pharen said. "It _is_ the law." He held the bracelets up for Loki's inspection. 

They weren't quite as bad as the word "manacles" had made Tony fear. They were cuff-style bracelets made of some heavy, silvery metal and engraved with symbols Tony didn't recognize. They weren't even chained together, so they wouldn't interfere with Tony's ability to use his hands. Unless they were strictly symbolic, Tony couldn't see what purpose they served. He'd have said as much, but it was starting to look like no one would have listened to him anyway.

"These are magical," Loki said. "I presume that they contain a tracking spell?"

"Of course they do," Pharen said. "Don't worry, we're not spying on your movements, sir. The spell is dormant unless your bondservant is reported out of control or missing." 

Magical GPS? Tony could live with that, even if he didn't like it.

"You picking up anything dangerous from them?" Tony asked Loki quietly. 

"No," Loki said. "Magic doesn't work like that--there are spells forged into the metal, but of course there would be."

"Spells, plural?" Tony asked. Tracking was one thing, but that made him nervous. "Like what?"

"Without the opportunity to make a lengthy study, I can't say precisely. I imagine the tracking spell is actually a fairly complex web of magic, though; they'll have been refining it for centuries. But I don't believe you're in any danger from the cuffs. I've certainly never heard of a bondservant being injured from them, and one would think that was the kind of story Asgardian visitors would bring back home with them." 

"And they're really not letting me out of here until I put them on." 

"No, they aren't." 

Not that "here" was terrible. The offworlders' wing of the spaceport resembled a large airport back on Earth, with an array of shops and restaurants and a wing that was essentially a hotel. Most of the "mortals" who came to Ghalus on business never left the spaceport complex; there were even, he'd noticed as they passed, what looked like conference rooms and a few small offices available for rental, for offworlders to meet with their Ghalusian customers or colleagues. 

He and Loki could probably do everything they needed to do without ever going into the city itself. But given that they--well, Loki--were supposed to be meeting with some fairly senior government officials, and those kinds of people tended to prefer that _you_ go to _them_ , leaving seemed like the most effective option. 

Besides, the Ghalusians seemed to want him to stay in the spaceport, which made Tony really want to leave it, just out of spite.

"Right. Put them on," he said, holding out his arms. 

Pharen pushed up Tony's right sleeve, clamped one bracelet on his wrist, and then repeated the process with his left arm. "If you'll sign here, sir," he said, holding what looked like a tablet out to Loki. "This is an acknowledgment that you're accepting responsibility for the actions of your bondservant while you're on Ghalus, and that you will return the manacles to this office upon your departure from the planet." 

Loki took the tablet and stylus from the man and scrawled something on it. "Where do we go to arrange transport? We're expected at the Commerce Ministry, if that helps." 

"There's a transport stand outside the west exit," the man said. "Tell them to take the route over the Okani Bridge; it's the most direct. Otherwise, they're cheating you."

"Thank you," Loki said, turning toward the door. "Shall we go, Stark?" 

"One more thing, sir," he said, as the automatic door remained firmly closed. "Offworlders are not allowed to carry weapons outside the spaceport." 

"We're unarmed," Loki said, which was technically true. All of Tony's weapons were built into his armor, which was currently nothing but a collection of nanoparticles in the casing on his chest, concealed by the sweater he'd pulled over it; Loki's daggers remained... somewhere... until Loki needed them. (Tony was not at _all_ jealous of Loki's ability to create pocket dimensions; that wouldn't come in handy in the _slightest_.) "We were scanned when we exited our vessel." 

"Yes, you were," Pharen confirmed, "but the scanner picked up an anomaly when your bondservant passed through it." He opened a cupboard and took out a device Tony assumed was a handheld scanner of some kind. "If I may scan him again, sir?" 

Tony wasn't sure if anyone else would recognize the expression that crossed Loki's face briefly as "near-homicidal impatience," but he'd provoked it often enough himself that it was very clear to him, at least, that this guy had found Loki's last nerve and was stepping on it. 

"Your Highness," Loki corrected him. 

"I beg your pardon?"

"I am a prince of Asgard and the heir presumptive to its throne, here on a mission from my king. _You_ will address me as 'Your Highness.'" 

Tony blinked. Loki--much to Tony's surprise, to be honest--hadn't seemed to care about that on any of the other planets they'd been to. Hell, Loki hadn't cared about being called "sir" before now. He was _definitely_ pissed at the delay. 

"Of course, Your Highness," Pharen said smoothly. "If you will permit me to scan your bondservant?" 

Loki waved a hand. "Get on with it. We have business to attend to." 

He ran the scanner down Tony's body, all the way down to his feet and then back up to his head. Then he consulted the readings and moved the scanner again, bringing it to a stop just over the nanotech housing. "Remove your outer garment," he ordered Tony. 

Tony sighed and took his sweater off. 

Pharen reached out and tapped Tony's chestplate. Tony gritted his teeth and didn't let himself either step back or shove the guy's hand away. "What is this?" 

"It houses nanotech particles," he said. "They form into--" He caught himself. Maybe telling the guy about his nanotech armor wasn't the great idea. "A protective suit," he said instead. "Like a space suit." Well, it could be used as one, anyway, at least short-term. 

"Demonstrate." 

Tony was really getting tired of the way this guy talked to him. Then again, given what little Loki had told him about the attitude of the Ghalusians, he was probably going to have to get used to it. 

He activated the armor, letting it form around him. He could direct the form of it, changing the details within specified parameters, but there was a default state, and he figured that was good enough. 

Pharen ran the scanner over Tony again, frowning. "I'm getting a reading for energy weapons," he said. 

"Well, sure, there are weapons _now_ ," Tony said, "but in the casing, this is totally harmless, and you have my word--and his too, if that helps--that I won't activate the armor unless we're attacked. So unless you're planning on trying to have us killed--"

The official ignored him completely, to Tony's total lack of surprise. "He'll have to remove that," he told Loki. 

"Can you remove it?" Loki asked Tony, and Tony realized that he'd never actually taken the nanotech casing out of the chestplate in Loki's presence. He left it in place most of the time, except when he was working on it--he'd done that even on Earth, but on the ship he figured having an almost-instant spacesuit handy was a sensible precaution. 

"Yeah," he said reluctantly. "The nanotech casing comes out. The housing compartment's still there, but it's just... a compartment. No nanoparticles, no weapons, just the interface." 

"I rather suspect you're going to have to hand it over," Loki said. "Perhaps we can arrange for you to examine the cargo here--you can get one of the rooms for offworlders, and I'll handle all of the negotiations." 

It was tempting. Tony didn't like being separated from his armor; that was why he'd designed a way he could have it with him all the time. "Do you really think that's a good solution?"

"No," Loki said immediately. "I don't. But if you won't remove your armor, we have very little choice." 

"I didn't say I wasn't going to remove it," Tony said. He didn't particularly want to, but he didn't think staying in the spaceport was a good solution either. 

"We do guarantee your bondservant's safety," Pharen told Loki. He'd started to sound distinctly irritated, but that was pretty typical for anyone who had to spend more than twenty minutes or so with Loki. 

"All right, all right, I'm doing it," Tony said. "But I want a receipt. And if anything happens to this, I'm going to hold you personally responsible." He reluctantly removed the casing of nanoparticles, reminding himself that this was supposed to be a peaceful planet, and that they'd only be here a couple of days. He could manage for a couple of days. But damn, he wished he'd thought to have Loki conceal the casing along with his daggers. 

Pharen moved to take it, and Loki cut in. "I shall require a receipt. This technology is quite valuable." 

"Of course, s--Your Highness." He brought out a different, smaller scanning device from his desk drawer and ran it over the casing. It spat out a small transparent label with some symbols on it; Tony assumed that it was the equivalent of a barcode. "The adhesive is completely removable," he assured Loki. "It doesn't leave any residue behind." He affixed it to the housing, then scanned the label. Something else printed out, and he handed that over to Loki. "Your receipt, Your Highness."

Loki held it out for Tony. The "paper" it was printed on was more like a thin sheet of plastic or celluloid, but it could be folded, so Tony put it in his pocket. When they got somewhere a little more private, he'd give to Loki and ask him to store it in his pocket dimension. Right now, though, he appreciated the optics. It might not make the Ghalusians any more likely to treat him as an equal, but at least they could make it clear how stupid they found that attitude.

"Are we free to go now?" Loki demanded, not even trying to hide his irritation. 

"Yes, of course, Your Highness," Pharen said. "Enjoy your stay on Ghalus." 

"That seems unlikely," Loki said under his breath, and for once, Tony didn't feel like arguing with him at all. 

_Extremely_ unlikely, in Tony's opinion.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I welcome kudos, comments, and concrit--and if you're just reading without responding, I appreciate you, too. <3 
> 
> If you follow me elsewhere, this is the fic I've been referring to as "ONNA SPACESHIP" for months now. :) 
> 
> **Next time:** Surprise, it gets worse!


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, it gets worse! The nature of the "worse" is only a surprise to them, though. The rest of us read the tags.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's left a comment or kudos! And also to those of you who are reading and enjoying without commenting, for that matter--I appreciate you too.

****

Yeah, Tony thought as he paced the length of the main room in the quarters they'd been allotted, he was definitely not enjoying his stay on Ghalus.

Oh, their host--a woman named Jarmenil, who was apparently the Minister for Interplanetary Commerce (so there was one tiny silver lining, Tony thought; at least Ghalus was taking Asgard seriously)--had been civil enough. At least, she had for the five minutes or so that Tony had been in her presence, although she, like the guy at the spaceport, had only spoken to Tony when absolutely necessary. 

After that, she'd summoned a servant--the woman wasn't wearing cuffs like Tony's; she just seemed to be an ordinary, highly-competent housekeeper--and had the woman take Tony to the suite he and Loki had been assigned. Loki, it seemed, was to remain behind to speak with the Minister further; Tony couldn't help but feel like a kid who'd been told to run along and play.

The housekeeper didn't have much to say to Tony beyond, "Follow me"; Tony tolerated the silence until the woman opened the door to their suite and led the way inside. Then, turning on his most charming smile, he said, "It's Perrian, right? I'm Tony." 

"The bedrooms are down that hall," she said, ignoring him, "as is the bathroom. You should find the suite adequately supplied for your needs."

"Thanks," Tony said, smiling at her some more. Being on the right side of the staff was always a good idea.

"This," she continued, like she was giving a pre-recorded message, "connects you to the servants' wing." She gestured toward an intercom grille set into the wall, with a single button beneath it. "If your bondholder requires anything, you or he can request it through this. You won't need to leave your quarters." 

Tony got the feeling that the subtext to that was, "You'd better not leave your quarters without a damn good reason." Not that she'd say anything like that, because that might imply that Tony was worth any attention beyond the official guided tour.

Well, fine. He could play along. "We--I mean, my bondholder has had a rather long day," he said. "If there could be refreshments sent up before his return? Something simple." 

"I'll see to it," she said, and excused herself quickly, leaving Tony to make himself comfortable.

Within fifteen minutes, he was bored out of his mind. First, he'd wandered around exploring their suite. The main room held a collection of ordinary-looking furniture: couches with no arms, well-padded easy chairs, a small dining table with straight-back chairs, and a writing desk that had a computer interface built into its surface. Down the hall, just as Perrian had said, he found a well-appointed bathroom with a tub that Tony thought he could possibly swim laps in; a large bedroom with a roughly king-size bed; and a smaller bedroom with a narrower bed that Tony assumed was meant for a servant, namely him. His exploration had taken all of five minutes. 

He'd moved his clothing into the cupboard in the smaller bedroom; it wasn't worth fighting Loki for the big one. Tony didn't sleep that much anyway, and when he'd sat down on it, the bed in that room was comfortable enough. Unpacking had taken another five minutes. Maybe seven, if he counted the time he'd spent washing his face and hands. 

By that time, another servant had come up with a tray of food and a carafe of bright-red wine. The boy looked like he was barely out of his teens, by Earth standards, and he was obviously less experienced than Perrian in dealing with mortal races, because when Tony had answered the door, he'd walked straight past Tony without making eye contact, set their meal down on the table, and gotten the hell out of there as quickly as possible. 

"Thanks," Tony had called to the boy's retreating back, but that hadn't been acknowledged any more than his attempts to befriend Perrian had been. 

Tony wasn't especially hungry, so he instead tried to turn on the computer interface. Browsing the alien internet sounded like a good way to find out about this planet. Just his luck, though; it required an access code, and Tony was fairly certain that if anybody was given computer access, it would be Loki, not him. He could probably hack in given enough time, but it'd be faster and less likely to cause trouble for him to just wait for Loki. 

In terms of time-killing options, he was left with: tasting the food they'd been sent (not bad: the sliced fruit that looked a lot like apples tasted a lot like apples, too, though the texture was a bit off; the wine was a lot sweeter than Tony liked, too, almost sticky, but everything seemed edible, and the wine didn't appear to be strong the way Asgardian drinks were); pacing the room; and muttering under his breath that if he found out Loki was laughing his ass off at the way Tony was being treated like a dog of uncertain house-training, Tony would earn that "Revenger" title as soon as they were back on the ship. 

In the end, he rummaged through the desk drawers, found some of that plasticky paper and something that looked like a pen, and started sketching out some ideas he'd had for modifications he wanted to make to his armor, once he got back to his workshop on Earth. 

Loki was gone for long enough that Tony convinced himself that they'd already begun the negotiations. Hopefully, those were going well enough that they were going to secure all the minerals the ship needed today. After a night's rest, he and Loki would be able to contact Valkyrie and have her come back for them as soon as she'd finished her trading (and probably drinking, and also probably flirting with every attractive woman on Freyne). Tony would be happy to leave this place behind him and go somewhere that somebody would be willing to make eye contact with him.

That optimism lasted until the door to their quarters slid open, and Loki stalked inside, mouth set in an angry line. "How dare they," he snarled, as soon as he the door closed behind him. Then, looking up toward the ceiling, he repeated, "How _dare_ you doubt the word of a prince of Asgard?" 

The room was bugged, of course. Tony should have expected that. He hadn't really thought about it, to be honest, mostly because they'd recently been visiting mostly lower-tech societies where surveillance equipment came in the form of cleverly-constructed ventilation systems, not electronic or magical bugs. But he should have. At least whoever had been watching them would have been as bored as Tony while Loki was gone.

"Maybe they've heard of you," he suggested. It was noble of him, he thought, to choose not to point out that since these days the population of Asgard wouldn't fill the stands in a high-school gymnasium, and the royal family--both of them--had fucked off on a spaceship, "a prince of Asgard" wasn't nearly as impressive as it might have been a couple of years ago. 

"Shut up, Stark," Loki snapped, barely interrupting his diatribe, directed at a particularly ugly bit of carved scrollwork and full of disproportionate offense at the locals' lack of trust, to address him. 

It wasn't that Tony didn't understand being annoyed at the Ghalusians, because that had been his basic state since they'd arrived, but if they'd ever heard of Loki, there was exactly no reason to expect that they'd trust him as far as they could throw him. So he ignored Loki, just as he always did. 

Or tried to, at least, because when he started to reply, he found that his voice wouldn't work. _What the fuck?_ Tony thought, and tried again. "I don't think--" he began, and realized that again, no sound was coming out. His throat felt tight; he was able to breathe, but there was a definite sense of constriction, like the beginnings of a panic attack.

He crossed over to Loki, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention--and that was when he noticed that the symbols on the silver cuffs were glowing with a purplish light. 

"What do you--" Loki said, turning, and then broke off. 

Did he actually look guilty? _Did you know about this?_ Tony mouthed, but either Loki was ignoring him, or he just didn't understand. 

"I should have said something as soon as I got here," Loki said after a moment, "but as I wasn't planning on giving you any instructions, I suppose I thought it could wait until I'd finished explaining to our hosts that this is _completely unacceptable_." The last two words were louder than the rest and addressed to the crown molding again. After a second's pause, he added, "You may speak, or not, as you choose." 

Instructions? Orders, Tony realized, as the tightness in his throat faded. "What the fuck was that?" he said, but he already knew the answer. The tracking spell wasn't the only enchantment in the cuffs. He was Loki's bondservant, and the cuffs were going to make damn sure he obeyed any order Loki gave him. 

And he'd thought he was lucky to not have his wrists chained together. 

"I had no idea," Loki said quickly. "There's apparently a great deal of information they choose not to give at the spaceport, because offworlders don't tend to appreciate it--presumably unless those offworlders are very stupid. The cuffs are enchanted, as no doubt you've realized, to make certain that a bondservant cannot disobey his bondholder even if he wished to." 

"Oh, I bet you're loving that," Tony muttered. 

"I don't love anything about this arrangement," Loki said, "and I didn't intentionally give you a command. I'll be more careful in the future." 

"Yeah, you do that," Tony said. 

Loki frowned, continuing to speak as though he hadn't even heard Tony. "Though perhaps I should have left you like that a while longer. It would make this conversation a good deal easier." 

"What conversation? I take it you did your usual stellar job at making friends out there." 

"Oh, the meeting went well enough," Loki said. "I haven't gotten them to agree to anything yet, but I didn't expect to. These were only the preliminaries." 

"That doesn't explain the mood you're in." 

"No, it doesn't, does it?" Loki paused for a moment before saying, carefully, "This is in no way an order--you should do as you like--but if I were you, I might like to sit down." 

Suspiciously, Tony sat. When Loki had obviously worded things to avoid even a hint of compulsion, the least he could do was to show some appreciation of that. He wasn't sure that he wanted to find out what the hell had Loki so furious, though, especially since it was clear Loki didn't think he was going to like it either. 

"Spit it out, Loki," he said, trying to lean back against the overstuffed chair in a casual manner. Nothing weird going on here. No magic bracelets, no pretending to be Loki's bondservant, no asshole aliens. Just a regular conversation. 

"Minister Jarmenil spent quite some time explaining the intricacies of holding a bond; apparently she knew that we wouldn't be given a full explanation at the spaceport." 

"So what is this full explanation? Do I have to serve your meals and polish your boots after all?" 

"First of all, I want to make it clear that I knew nothing about this before we arrived," Loki said. "Asgard has traded here for centuries, so we're well aware of the existence of the bond-servitude requirement for mortal visitors, but as I told you earlier, I was under the impression that it would be largely a formality given that neither of us is a native of this world." 

That really didn't sound good. "So what were you wrong about? Am I being shipped off to the salt mines? Sold at auction?" 

He tried to sound flippant, but there was a cold knot of fear in his stomach. He was sure there was a way to recalibrate the cuffs on his wrists to compel him to obey someone other than Loki, and if the Ghalusians did that, he was doomed. These people were almost as strong and hard to kill as Loki, and there were a lot more of them; even if Loki tried to protect him, he wouldn't succeed. And that was a big "if."

And the Ghalusians had _taken his fucking suit._

"Absolutely not," Loki said. He sat down at the near end of one of the armless sofas, then turned to face Tony directly. "Your bond can't be transferred to anyone without your permission, and you're free to terminate it at any time." 

"Great. If the terms are so bad, let's do that." 

Loki raised a hand. "Of course, if we do that, you'll be restricted to the spaceport, and our negotiations may fall through because I'll have lost their respect." 

Tony subsided. "All right, then. What _is_ the problem?" It couldn't be just the requirement that he obey Loki's orders. They could get around that. It would require very careful wording, and Loki would probably forget--or "forget"--a time or two, but it would be all right. 

"The Arutans--the people of the other inhabited planet in this solar system--are known for their violence and emotional volatility," Loki said. "At least, they're known _here_ for that; I've encountered some Arutans in the past and haven't noticed them being any more volatile than, say, Thor, but..." 

He shrugged slightly. "Our opinion doesn't matter; only the Ghalusians' does, since they make the rules. And since those rules are based on their perception of their neighbors, mortal bondservants, particularly _male_ mortal bondservants, are considered overly emotional and likely to lose control at any given time." 

"Hence the cuffs," Tony said. "Which are on, and which obviously work on humans, so I don't see what the problem is." 

"No, neither did I." Loki pursed his lips, but didn't elaborate further. 

Shit. This could not be good. If it was just something likely to make Tony miserable, Loki wouldn't be so reluctant to tell him. They might get along well enough these days--well enough that Tony more or less considered Loki a friend--but that didn't mean Tony had any illusions about Loki's default level of empathy. This had to be something bad for them both. "Well, _tell_ me." 

"In addition to the control bracelets--which can be taken off in the bondholder's private residence, and yes, I've already petitioned to have our quarters classified as my residence for the duration of our visit--there are other methods of control. Other _required_ methods of control." 

Yeah, no, this was definitely not good. Loki wasn't looking him in the eye. He looked embarrassed, for that matter, which was not actually something Tony had been aware Loki was capable of being. "Such as?" 

"It has been 'scientifically proven'--" Tony could definitely hear the scornful quotation marks around the words-- "that experiencing regular sexual penetration defuses the worst impulses in the adult mortal male." 

"I have to get laid for the good of society? Is there, like, Ghalusian Tinder, or do I have to go out and..." He paused, ran Loki's words through his head again. That phrasing had been too specific to have an ambiguous interpretation. "Or, I guess, Ghalusian Grindr?" Not that Loki would know what either of those were, but he'd probably get the basic question: how the hell was Tony supposed to accomplish this?

"This isn't a laughing matter." 

"I'm not laughing." On the other hand, he could manage this. It was just one more instance of living up to his playboy reputation, and it was nothing he hadn't done before. Not often, but enough. "But I've done less pleasant things for worse reasons, and we wouldn't still be here if we didn't both know Thor needs us to make this trade agreement work." 

"It's also meant to solidify the bond between bondholder and bondservant," Loki went on, each word clipped off sharply. "So no, you don't have to go out and find a partner." He spread his hands, palms outward; Tony wasn't sure if it was meant as a placating gesture, or to mean, _ta-da!_ , and with Loki, either one was possible. "In fact, you aren't permitted to, at least not for this purpose." 

No. Oh, no. _Hell_ no. Some alien stranger, Tony was fine with. Not thrilled, but fine. But he had to work with Loki. He had to live with Loki, on a ship that wasn't all that big, for the foreseeable future. 

Loki was angry about this, and he wasn't going to get over that any time soon. Loki didn't get over things. That was basically Loki's entire deal, _not letting go of shit_ once he got angry about it. And even if Tony wasn't currently the focus of Loki's anger, what about when they were off this planet, reunited with their team, and Tony was the only one around? What about when Loki caught on--because Loki wasn't as smart as he thought he was, but that didn't mean he wasn't smart at all--that Tony wasn't completely repulsed by the idea?

Hell, under better circumstances--such as almost any other possible circumstances--Tony would have been all for it. It would probably be a terrible idea even then, but Tony had never been afraid of making bad decisions, especially about who he slept with. 

Under orders, with the trade agreement held over their heads and these damn mind-control bracelets on his wrists-- _fuck_ , no. But that was a fine distinction that he wasn't sure he could trust Loki to make. Loki wasn't big on shades of nuance, at least not in other people's behavior. He was the only one who was allowed to have complicated feelings about anything. 

"This planet is so fucked up," Tony muttered.

"Agreed." 

"They're actually serious about this?" He was having trouble wrapping his brain around that. This was stupid. This was--this was like an extension of the creeps on the internet back home who argued that the government should provide prostitutes for lonely guys so that they didn't go shoot up a daycare center. This was no way to treat visitors to your planet. 

_So_ fucked up. 

"Very," Loki said. "There were pamphlets explaining how it's in the mortal's best interests, keeping him calm and rational and able to better benefit from Ghalusian culture and learning. I didn't bring any back with me, but I'm sure the Minister's staff would supply you with copies."

"I think I'm starting to understand why they have a problem with 'mortals' not being calm and rational around them." 

"And yet, if we want to be able to continue negotiations--" 

"We could lie and say we did it?" 

Loki gave a disdainful snort and jerked his head upward, in the direction of the ceiling. "We're being recorded. Out of 'respect for my position,' Minister Jarmenil had invited the Undersecretary for Interplanetary Affairs--his office is the one that regulates service bonds--to assure me that only the assigned security officer would ever see the recordings, and that once they confirm that we're following the rules, they would be destroyed--but one, I don't trust them, and two, that means we do have to go through with it." 

Tony leaned his head against the back of his chair, closing his eyes briefly. "So now it looks like we're going to be making a sex tape for aliens. At least Pepper and the Stark Industries PR team aren't likely to have to figure out how to spin it for the news."

Then something else occurred to him. "Does that mean women aren't permitted to hold bonds, or would they have provided you with an official state-issued strap-on?" It wasn't funny. None of this was funny. This was fucked up, not funny, but Tony found himself laughing, and he couldn't seem to make himself stop. 

He looked up at Loki, expecting him to be glaring at him for not taking their situation seriously, but their eyes met, and Loki started laughing too. It wasn't even that funny, Tony thought, but neither of them seemed able to stop for quite some time.

When they both finally caught their breath, Loki said, "Historically I don't believe they were allowed to hold bonds--but you'll forgive me for being so preoccupied with our situation that I didn't think to ask about hypotheticals."

"Think nothing more of it," Tony said, waving his hand airily. Then he sighed. "So, other than the position, are there any other requirements about what we have to do?" 

Loki rubbed his hands over the knees of his trousers, as though he were smoothing out infinitesimal wrinkles in the fabric. "You sound as though you've made your decision." 

He shrugged. "You and Thor were both pretty clear that Asgard needs these resources, and you can't get them on Earth. The Ghalusians seem open to trading with us. We do this, you finish the negotiations, and we get the hell out of here with a cargo hold full of minerals to take back to Heimdall. I don't really see what other choice we have." 

He rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of some of the tension building in them, and rubbed at his left wrist. The cuff might have been too tight; it was aching a little. Or maybe it was just stress from having surrendered his suit, what the hell was he doing on a planet run by crazy people without his armor? 

Apparently, getting treated like he was barely sentient, not to mention being fucked by Loki. 

For the first time, he was starting to regret having left Earth. A lot of strange and terrible things had happened to him on Earth, granted, but at least nothing quite like this. 

"So yeah," he continued. "I'll go through with it." 

Loki raised one eyebrow. "In the face of such a valiant sacrifice, how could I say no?"

"It's not that much of a sacrifice," Tony said, but that was a little too honest, so he quickly added, "I've seen you naked in the decon showers, princess. Your dick's not that intimidating." 

Thanks to a few unpleasant situations that had made decontamination seem like a good idea afterward, Tony had seen all of his fellow shipmates naked; the decon showers right inside the main airlock weren't designed for privacy. He hadn't done a lot of looking, though; for one thing, a decon shower was the least sexy thing ever. For another, everyone had seen Bruce naked post-Hulking anyway, Valkyrie would probably punch him if she thought he was ogling her, and Tony felt like looking at Thor for too long would just make him feel inadequate. As far as Loki himself went--contrary to popular belief Tony didn't _always_ want to be incredibly obvious.

Loki didn't take the bait, which was frankly more than a little disappointing. "I was thinking of these," he said, reaching across the space between them to tap the silver band on Tony's right wrist. "You have only my word that I won't use them against you, after all, and I doubt you're foolish enough to put much stock in that." 

Except Tony had. He did. That just didn't feel like something Loki would do. He might order Tony to do the Chicken Dance in front of their "hosts," maybe, but not that. "I don't know," he said, shrugging again. "It might make things a lot easier on me." 

Loki frowned. "Do you want that? I can, of course. I can even order you to enjoy it, or to forget afterward, and as much as your body and mind are able, you'll obey." 

It was almost tempting, except for one thing. "It might be easier on me, but what about you? Thanks, but no thanks." Did Loki look relieved, just for one brief moment? "Anyway, like I said, I've done worse things for dumber reasons before." 

"You flatter me," Loki said dryly, but at least he wasn't glaring up at the carvings on the ceiling any more. 

"Should we get this over with, then?" Tony asked. "Or, I had them bring some food and what passes for wine, if you're hungry." He waved at the dining table. 

"I've already enjoyed the Minister's hospitality," Loki said, "and I'll be expected at dinner in a few hours." 

" _You'll_ be expected," Tony repeated. "So what do I do?" 

"Since you're a mortal who hasn't been kept properly under control, you're not permitted to socialize with the Ghalusians at the moment. You'll be brought your meal here."

"You're telling me I have to stay in this suite for the entire time we're here? What was the point in leaving the spaceport, then?"

"Do try not to overreact," Loki said. "After I've 'established my control over you,' you'll be given almost the same freedom of movement that I have." 

"Almost?"

"You aren't permitted to leave the city without me or remain behind if I leave it, and you're not allowed to go anywhere that I've told you not to go, but beyond that, your movements won't be restricted." Loki gave him a sharp smile. "You'll also be included in the negotiations--and believe me, that required all of my powers of persuasion. I reiterated that I had brought you to Ghalus because you possess valuable skills, and that if they choose not to allow me to make use of those skills, I might as well communicate with our ship and make arrangements to go." 

"And they didn't laugh in your face? I thought they held all the cards, what with the state of things in Asgard." 

"Apparently, they have a greater need for Asgardian magic than I knew," he said.

"Or they're up to something."

"Or," Loki conceded, "they're up to something." 

They were probably up to something. Tony sighed. "I guess we should get this over with. You've got time before dinner, right? You don't need three hours to primp?" 

"We can, if you'd rather. But you do understand that we're not 'getting it over with'? We're required to repeat our performance at least once every day that we're here." 

Of course the freaky sex requirement wasn't a one-time deal. Tony couldn't be that lucky. "Then we'd better wrap these negotiations up as quickly as possible," he said, "or you're going to wind up being one of my longer-lasting relationships." 

"Agreed," Loki said. "And when we return, I plan to explain to Thor precisely how distasteful I found this particular mission." 

Tony winced a little. Yeah, this was several hundred steps short of "ideal," but he was _right here_ , Loki. 

Loki must have noticed his expression, because he added, "I don't believe any of the others were better-informed than I was. To my knowledge, Thor's never been here either, unless it was quite recently." 

Noticed his expression, and completely misinterpreted it, it seemed, but Tony didn't feel like correcting him. 

He nodded. "Good to know." He hadn't really thought the others would have sent him here if they'd realized. (And thank God they hadn't sent Bruce, he realized. After his time in space, Bruce was doing a lot better at keeping the Other Guy under control, but _Tony_ was close to turning into a giant rage monster himself at this point, and he, at least, was neither prone to doing just that under stress, nor disturbed by the entire concept of fucking Loki, like he suspected Bruce would be.) 

Loki stood up. "If you'd rather do this before dinner than afterward, perhaps we might want to retire to the other room." 

"Where I'm sure there's a hidden camera pointed straight at the bed," Tony said. Then he paused. "You might be surprised to hear that I don't exactly carry lubricant with me at all times." 

Loki smirked at him. "How could a man of your reputation be so ill-prepared?"

"You don't have a bottle of Astroglide in your pocket dimension, do you?" Loki looked briefly nonplussed, so he quickly added, "It's an Earth brand." 

"No, but I was assured that we would find everything we required in the bathroom." He crossed the room in a few long strides, disappearing out of sight down the short hallway that led to the bedrooms and the bath. Tony heard the sound of a cupboard opening, and then Loki called, "They did, indeed, mean 'everything.'" 

He reappeared a few moments later, holding a small red glass jar in his hand, and Tony sighed. There wasn't much left that he could do to postpone the inevitable at this point. Oh, he could tell Loki he'd rather wait until after dinner, but then he'd just be here, pacing the floor and overthinking the fact that he was going to have to have sex with Loki. 

Instead, he could spend the time while Loki was gone pacing the floor and overthinking the fact that he'd just _had_ sex with Loki. It was, just barely, the better option. And maybe with their daily requirement out of the way, Loki would be in a good enough mood to give him the access code to the computer network, if he had it. 

"Let's get this over with, then," he said, getting up himself and following Loki into the larger bedroom. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I'm overcome by your charm." 

"You want me to be charming, you'll have to buy me dinner first," Tony said. "Or at least get me into a situation where I'm not being forced by a bunch of creepy aliens to have sex with you on camera." 

Shrugging slightly, Loki said, "I've known people who would consider that a delightful experience." 

"Too bad you're not here with one of them." 

"Honestly, I'd been considering that a positive aspect of the situation." 

They were standing in the bedroom now; Loki had turned on the lights as they entered, but left them on a relatively dim setting. Tony appreciated the decision; they wouldn't be tripping over the furniture in an unfamiliar room--it was late enough in the day that there wasn't much light coming through the high, narrow windows--but he felt like neither of them wanted a bright light shining on them during this. As far as he was concerned, it would be a lot easier to get through this if he didn't have to see how "distasteful" Loki considered it. 

The room itself was pretty basic: more of the ornately carved molding adorning the walls, a few inoffensive landscape paintings on the walls, the large bed Tony had noticed before, a few other pieces of furniture. Everything looked comfortable and of good quality, but still had the blandness that Tony usually associated with a hotel room. 

And he was obviously stalling; he never paid this much attention to interior décor. Time to move things along.

"We should probably be undressed for this," he suggested, and started to unbutton his shirt. 

By some sort of unspoken agreement, they each undressed themselves, and in silence. Tony was actually a little surprised that he finished before Loki; he'd assumed that Loki could just magic his clothing away, rather than removing it in the conventional manner. But for whatever reason, Loki had opted to take his clothing off piece by piece; even in a situation where they hadn't been expecting to do battle, Loki was wearing far more pieces of leather than anyone not on their way to a fetish club had any business with. 

Once he was naked, Tony sat down on the bed to wait, trying not to seem nervous. It wasn't as though he'd never done this before. Not lately, true, but he and Pepper had accumulated quite a well-stocked toy chest during their time together, and before that... well. Not _everything_ Tony did had made it to the gossip pages. 

But it had been a while, and he'd never done this with Loki--obviously; you'd have to be a lunatic to actually get involved with someone like Loki--and he'd definitely never had sex with someone while wearing magic handcuffs that forced him to do whatever his partner told him to. 

In another situation, Tony thought, with a lot of negotiation beforehand and safewords in place, those manacles might even be kind of fun. In _this_ one, though, they definitely left a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he thought about them. It'd be too easy for Loki to accidentally give him an order, something that in the normal course of things didn't even seem like a command, like telling him to shut up, earlier. 

"Be careful what you say," Tony said. "Please?" he added. 

"Of course I will." Then Loki smirked as he set aside the final piece of his clothing. "You could always make it difficult for me to talk." 

Tony shook his head. "That's not what the rules say." 

Loki snorted impatiently. " _Kissing_ , Stark. You may have heard of it?"

All right, Tony had walked into that one. "You know, I do allow the people who fuck me to call me by my first name." 

"It's almost adorable," Loki said, "the way you think your opinion would have any influence on what I choose to call you, _Stark_." 

Tony shook his head. He was definitely having an off day. "Come on," he said. "I'm getting cold sitting here like this." 

Loki's gaze flickered down Tony's body, his upper lip quirking upward. "Oh, is _that_ the reason?" he murmured. 

"You're still not over me accusing you of having performance issues, are you?" Tony got to his feet, taking a step forward so that he was invading Loki's personal space. 

"Perhaps I'm simply looking forward to demonstrating how very wrong you were?" 

"Hey, at least that means one of us is looking forward to this." He cringed as he heard what he'd just said. "Okay, you understand that's not actually an insult, right? It isn't about you. It's about--"

"The Ghalusians and their thrice-cursed laws, yes, I do understand. I may not be your first choice of partner, but I'm aware that I'm not physically repulsive."

That, Tony had to admit, was an understatement. Tony found Loki reasonably physically attractive under normal circumstances; that only intensified now that he got a better look at what all the leather had been covering. He might not have had muscles piled upon muscles the way Thor did, but his body was lean, pale, and well-defined. 

Well, it wasn't like finding Loki attractive was a bad thing, particularly not now. Tony reached up--damn it, why did everyone have to be taller than he was?--and gently pulled Loki into a kiss. 

Given the situation they were in, the kiss wasn't all that bad. It was stiff and awkward--on both their parts--but Tony kept going, kissing Loki a second time, this time letting his tongue just slip past Loki's lips. 

"Oh, you can do better than that, surely," Loki said, putting his arms around Tony. Tony tensed for a moment, because he knew he was no match for an Asgardian physically, certainly not without his armor. Then he realized that all Loki was trying to do at the moment was to kiss him again, coaxing him to part his lips for Loki's tongue. 

Tony did, without hesitation--anything to make this easier for them, he told himself, anything to make it less obvious to one another that they were only doing this because they were compelled to by the most asinine set of laws that Tony had ever heard of in his life. 

He reached up again, twining his arms around Loki's neck to keep him closer, and yielded to Loki's kiss. It wasn't as demanding as Tony would have expected: it wasn't soft or gentle, but it felt as if Loki were interested in exploring Tony's mouth, rather than conquering it. Given how much power Loki had over him at the moment--the Ghalusians had _better_ agree to classify their quarters as a private residence, so that at least when they were in here, he'd be free of the cuffs--that was a welcome surprise. 

When Loki broke the kiss, it was to murmur quietly, "I've found the camera." He jerked his head slightly to one side, drawing Tony's attention to a particular spot in the crown molding that ran around the ceiling. The walls were painted a deep blue, and with the lights fully on, it would be easy to miss the small blue light that peeped out of the carving. In the dimmer light, though, it shone out clearly. 

"I hope they're enjoying the show," Tony said. "Do you think it has sound?" 

"That depends on whether we can trust anything they say," Loki said. "I was assured it was a visual record only, to ensure compliance, but..."

"But who could pass up a chance to spy on their trade partners? We'll have to figure out some way we can talk freely." 

"The bathroom is most likely unmonitored," Loki said, "and it's just possible that they didn't expect an honored guest to have any meaningful conversation with his lowly bond-servant."

Tony shook his head. "Logic would dictate that if anyone brought a mortal to this place, it'd have to be a mortal they thought was pretty necessary." 

"I'm not sure the Ghalusians really fathom the idea that any of you, especially the men, could be necessary. At least not for conversational purposes." He paused for a minute, considering. "But you're right, we shouldn't take that for granted. Perhaps some music, to set the mood?"

Tony was about to ask them where they were going to get music, but Loki traced a sigil in the air; it hung there for a moment, glowing green, and then faded, as music filled the room. It was soft enough to allow them to hear one another without shouting, but loud enough that it would make it difficult to eavesdrop on their conversation. Someone could probably isolate their voices in a recording, but Tony would be willing to gamble that nobody thought they were that important. 

Tony didn't recognize either the music or the instrument playing it; it was something stringed, but there was something subtly off about it. Something Asgardian, maybe, but Tony didn't know enough about Asgardian culture to even make a confident guess.

He could ask Loki about that later. Right now, there was something more pressing they needed to do. 

Still, it couldn't hurt to butter Loki up a little. "Impressive," Tony admitted. 

Loki shook his head. "It's a very simple enchantment. I learned it as a child." 

Tony tried picturing Loki as a kid, but kept coming up with an image that was basically just a miniaturized adult Loki. He wondered if Loki had enjoyed learning it, if he'd taken every opportunity to show off his newfound skill, the way Tony had loved running to his mother to show her what he'd built in his father's laboratory. 

There were more pressing items on the agenda, Tony reminded himself. He needed to stop wondering about what Loki was like as a little kid before he got sentimental. "So, can you keep that running even if you get distracted?" 

"As long as I'm alive, the music will keep playing until I choose to stop it," Loki said. "It's been very useful at times."

"How often do you have to worry about someone listening in on you?"

"Probably about as often as you do," he said, "but I was thinking more about situations where one might want to, for example, harmlessly annoy one's sibling." 

"Are we talking five hundred years ago, or last month?"

"Both? Also, next week, probably. He deserves some slight irritation after this." He put his arms around Tony again. "But as much as I understand the temptation to stall, perhaps we should get back to the matter at hand?" 

Tony nodded. "We probably should." He kissed Loki, then gestured toward the bed. "Maybe we should lie down?" 

Internally, he rolled his eyes at himself. This hesitation wasn't like him. Tony Stark, billionaire playboy, would generally have had his partner in bed fifteen minutes ago, at least. 

Then again, Tony Stark, billionaire playboy, was generally in the habit of picking his own partners. (All right, sometimes they picked him, but whoever made the first move, it wasn't because they were being compelled to by some third party.) 

And it wasn't as though Loki were handling this with any more suavity. Not that Tony had any idea how Loki generally _did_ handle this sort of thing. He'd seen Valkyrie flirt, and Thor--sometimes with the same woman, until she either chose between them or stalked off in irritation that she was being used as the prize in a competition. And he'd seen the disaster that was Bruce in the presence of someone he was interested in. But even when they'd taken some time to relax on a friendly planet--or when drinking in a local bar seemed like the best place for Thor to get the information he wanted--Loki kept himself to himself. 

Hell, for all Tony knew, Loki had been married half a dozen times over the last few centuries. Thor hadn't ever mentioned it, and Tony thought he probably would have, but the fact remained: Tony didn't know much about this aspect of Loki's life. 

No, scratch that. Tony didn't know anything, not even--"Probably should have asked this before, but--you aren't completely repulsed by the idea of having sex with a man, are you?" he asked, as he settled himself on the bed, sliding over to make room for Loki. 

"Are you?" Loki asked in reply. 

"Hard-partying playboy here," Tony said. "I've tried just about everything at least once." He shrugged. "Some things a lot more than once." 

"Asgardians have very long lives," Loki said, which seemed like a non sequitur until he added, "Which means that most of us have also tried everything at least once." He gave Tony a quick smile. "Some things, more than once." 

"That's good, at least." Tony reached out a hand and ran it over Loki's torso, playing idly with the dark whorls of hair on his chest. 

"Look," he said, after a silent moment. "This time, let's just... get it over with, like we keep saying we should. It'll be easier tomorrow, when it isn't coming as a total surprise, and when we, well, know what to expect from each other. But this time, maybe we just do what we have to do and be done with it?"

"By all means," Loki said. He reached for the red glass jar. "Is there a particular position you would prefer?"

On his stomach, Tony thought immediately. That way it'd be easier to pretend this was someone else, some _where_ else. Easier for Loki, too, if that was something he wanted--and why wouldn't it be? Neither of them wanted this to happen. 

But it felt cowardly, somehow, and Tony didn't like feeling like a coward. "On my back," he said, "if that works for you." 

"Of course," Loki said. 

Tony rolled onto his back, considered for a moment, and then pulled a pillow from the other side of the bed, squirming to get it underneath him. "Help me straighten this out?" he said. "It's kind of wadded up under my right side, and I can't--that's better, thanks," he added, as Loki tugged the pillow into place and Tony drew his knees up. He kept his feet on the bed; lying waiting with his knees up to his chest was for much younger and more flexible men. 

Loki had the jar open now, and Tony caught a faint whiff of spices, maybe something vaguely pine-scented. Hopefully nothing that would irritate skin. "Am I to assume that 'getting on with it' still involves a reasonable amount of preparation? If we're to do this for the next several days, it would make things much easier if I didn't damage you." 

"I'd prefer not to wind up in an alien hospital, yeah," Tony agreed. "I just meant that the way things were going, we seemed like we were willing to keep dragging things out until you had to leave for dinner." 

"Good to know," Loki said, dipping a finger into the jar and pulling it out glistening with a thick gel: clear, with what might have been a faint brownish tinge to it. "Let me--I mean, I hope this doesn't sting," he said, catching himself before he gave Tony an order. "I don't have any idea what's in it, or how a human will react to it." 

Tony nodded, bracing himself in case it turned out to be an irritant. It didn't feel like that, though, when Loki slid his finger between Tony's cheeks and began smearing the lubricant over Tony's hole. "It seems fine," he said. 

Loki nodded, but didn't speak; he seemed to be concentrating on massaging the gel into Tony, coaxing tight muscle into relaxing. And Tony decided to let himself focus on taking deep breaths, reminding himself that all he needed to do was relax, and this would be fine. Not something either of them really wanted to do--definitely not here and now--but fine. Pleasurable, even. 

He didn't let himself close his eyes; if Loki had to be aware that the body beneath him wasn't someone he had chosen, Tony--well. He'd have chosen this, but then, he sometimes chose things that were very bad for him. And watching Loki would make it easier to remember that _Loki_ didn't want this at all, not even under other circumstances. 

If he had, Tony would have noticed before now, and this would have been a joke between lovers, a requirement to do something they'd have been doing by choice regardless. 

This was so far from being a joke. 

So Tony watched Loki's face as Loki opened him up with long, clever fingers, coaxing Tony's muscles to relax as well as spreading the gel inside him. It didn't take long before Tony was pushing back against those fingers, silently urging Loki on; his body didn't care about the context, only that this felt good, and he wanted more of it. "You don't have to take so much trouble," he said, in between gasps of pleasure. 

Loki's answering chuckle seemed harsher than Tony thought he deserved. "Oh, but if you don't enjoy yourself sufficiently, it doesn't count." 

Right. Tony probably should have thought of that. Just fucking an overemotional, out-of-control mortal wouldn't make him pliant and well-behaved; of _course_ there'd be a requirement that he had to come, because this planet was terrible. 

It was a damn good thing that Tony was able to perform under stress. It was an even better thing that at least part of him wanted Loki to be doing this to him anyway. 

"Carry on, then," Tony said, trying to sound casual and even slightly dismissive. He was getting hard, the stress of the situation giving way to the sensations Loki was creating inside him; before Loki's revelation, he might have felt almost embarrassed to be enjoying this given the circumstances, but now, well, it was mandatory, wasn't it? 

And carrying on was exactly what Loki did, working Tony over until he could get three fingers deep inside him. "Yes, _God,_ " Tony gasped; this time, Loki's laugh seemed a great deal more genuine. 

"I thought you insisted that I'm not actually a god?" 

"You're a pain in the ass," Tony said, "though luckily, not literally." He raised his hips, urging Loki to go harder, deeper, to--oh, yes, _that_ , that was what he wanted, Loki to find just the right place inside him so that Tony's vision whited out for a second. 

"Okay," Tony said once his heart rate slowed to something like normal again, "Now would be a very good time to go ahead and fuck me." 

"Be patient," Loki said, and Tony could feel the moment when the cuffs started working. It wasn't that he didn't want more from Loki, but he suddenly felt content to lie back and let Loki take his time with whatever he wanted to do to Tony.

"Cuffs," he said, though getting a suitably angry tone of voice wasn't possible at the moment. 

Loki muttered something under his breath. Tony couldn't make it out, from the tone, it was probably a curse. "You are free to be as patient or impatient as you choose," he said carefully. "Is that better?" 

Tony nodded as the weird sensation of calm faded. 

"I _am_ sorry," Loki said. "It's more difficult to avoid saying things that your cuffs will interpret as commands than I'd expected." 

"Yeah, I get it," Tony said. "Not actually angry. Though if you want to make it up to me..." 

"I plan to," Loki said. "In a moment." 

Tony reached out then, picking up the jar of lubricant from the bed and getting some on his hand. "Here," he said. "You've done such a thorough job preparing me that I might as well return the favor." He wrapped his hand around Loki's cock--not hard yet, but definitely taking an interest--and began to stroke him, feeling it stiffen under his touch. 

Loki didn't react otherwise; if Tony hadn't had the evidence in front of him, he'd have been afraid that his caresses were leaving Loki totally unmoved. 

But after a few moments, Loki pushed his hand away. "Shall we?" he said, settling between Tony's legs and positioning the head of his cock at Tony's entrance. 

"Yes, _let's_ ," Tony suggested, breathing in sharply as Loki pushed into him. 

Loki held still once his cock was completely buried inside Tony, giving him the chance to adjust; Tony breathed through the initial burn and stretch, and then wrapped his legs around Loki's waist, pulling him closer. 

"It's all right," he said. "I'm ready, go on." 

Loki didn't need any more encouragement than that, pulling almost all the way out of Tony before snapping his hips forward and plunging deep inside again. 

Tony groaned, rising up to meet Loki's thrusts. _You have to come like this_ , he reminded himself. Presumably, if he finished after Loki, it wouldn't be a violation of either the letter or the spirit of the law, but it would be embarrassing as hell to have to be corrected on that by whatever low-ranking Ghalusian civil servant was in charge of contacting violators of the service bond regulations. 

This situation was embarrassing enough as it was, so Tony began to stroke himself, trying to match the rhythm of Loki's thrusts inside him. 

Tony was usually vocal during sex--at least once, Pepper had pressed her hand over his mouth, laughing as she told him, "Hush for a minute and just let me enjoy myself"--but for once, he couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't just make things feel more awkward. 

_Pretend this is just a cheap hookup_ , he told himself. _You've had sex with people you liked less than Loki. You've had sex with people you found a lot less_ attractive _than him, too. This should be no big deal._

But it was, for some reason. Well. "For some reason" was dodging the issue, because it was for a very obvious reason: he hadn't been resenting the hell out of the fact that he had to have sex with those people, and he _was_ resenting this. And, presumably, so was Loki. 

That didn't mean that Loki wasn't putting forth a damn good effort, though, he had to admit. He'd found the right angle to hit Tony's prostate again, not on every thrust, but often enough that Tony found himself getting very close to the edge. "Keep doing that," he urged, as Loki thrust in again, hard, and deep and-- _oh. God. Yes,_ Tony thought, giving his cock a few more quick strokes before he came. 

"One legally-mandated orgasm, as required," he said, still breathing hard. 

"That's today taken care of, at least," Loki replied. Tony had expected Loki to keep going--he couldn't have been that far from his own orgasm, could he?--but instead, Loki pulled out, still hard, and got off the bed. "I'm going to clean up," he said, and didn't wait for Tony to reply before opening the door and disappearing through it, presumably on his way to the bathroom. 

Tony lay there on the bed, feeling exhausted and pleasantly sore, listening to the conjured music. Definitely strings, he thought. He wondered what the instrument was, because it was better than thinking about how eager Loki had been to get the hell away from Tony as soon as they'd fulfilled the letter of the law. 

Even under these circumstances, that was one hell of a blow to the ego.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next time:** Tony gets to meet some of the Ghalusians. This goes about as well as you'd expect.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets to meet some of the Ghalusians. This goes about as well as you'd expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves* Hey, everybody! Thanks for sticking around another week!

****

"Do I _want_ to be invited to the negotiations?" Tony asked. "And why hasn't this planet invented anything that resembles coffee?"

"Because not all the galaxy shares your obsession with that stuff, and yes, you do. Surely you have experience negotiating business deals?" Loki sipped the pinkish, floral-scented tea that they'd been provided with their morning meal; that and a sweet yellow fruit juice were the only beverages available, it seemed, besides a pitcher of chilled water. 

The juice was better than the tea; it would have made a decent mixer, and at least it didn't taste like flowers. Cut with water, it wasn't even too sweet. The food was more to Tony's taste than the drinks: some sort of dark bread, with soft cheese and more of the not-apples. There were sausages, too, but they smelled too gamey for Tony to want them at this time of the morning. Loki was eating one with obvious enjoyment, though.

Loki seemed to be in a much better mood this morning than he'd been the previous day. (In general, Tony would like to think that was true about anyone who'd had sex with him, but in this case, he suspected that was unlikely to be the cause.) Tony hadn't seen him after dinner last night; Loki had showered and dressed, contacted the housekeeper to see about getting the access codes for the computer for Tony, then left to join the Minister and her other guests.

That had been the last interaction they'd had until morning; Tony had spent the evening poking around in the Ghalusian equivalent of the internet and then gone to bed early. His internal clock hadn't quite adjusted to local time; it had _felt_ like he'd been up long past midnight, even if the timepiece on the wall had informed him that Loki had only been gone for a few hours. 

He hadn't even heard Loki come back in, so he had no idea how late the dinner with the Minister had lasted. But this morning, Loki had greeted him with the same degree of civility that he would have back on the ship (in other words, not much, but at least there wasn't any tension between them), and the music he'd conjured up to cover up their conversation had a distinctly cheerful tone. 

"Of course I do," he said, "but I'm only used to negotiating with people who think I'm a human being." 

"Oh, you _are_ ," Loki said. "That's the problem."

"You know what I mean," Tony said. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, wishing it had some sort of cushion. They could probably ask the housekeeper for one, but Tony didn't really want to have to admit to these people that he was sore after the activities that he didn't feel like talking about. They had presumably checked the video record; that was enough embarrassment for one day. "I'm just not looking forward to having to be polite to these people." 

That must have caught Loki by surprise, because he laughed. "I'm looking forward to hearing you tell them exactly what you think of them and their regulations," he said. "But let's save that for our last day, once everything's been signed." 

Tony grinned at him. "It's a deal." He took another bite of the bread and cheese--it really was pretty good, although that might have been because the meals onboard ship were more or less the same quality as microwavable frozen dinners. None of their group were enthusiastic cooks, though Bruce sometimes decided to put forth an effort when they'd had a chance to pick up fresh supplies. 

"Did you have a chance to do much investigation of the computer network?" Loki asked, after refilling his cup. 

"Yeah, but I didn't find out anything useful," he admitted. "I'll keep reading tonight--last night I got bogged down in following a shouting match that, if I interpreted it right, was the equivalent to 'which would win in a fight, the Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon?'" 

Loki gave him a blank look, and Tony realized that he'd done it again: forgotten that Earth pop-culture references were completely wasted on Asgardians. Hell, even Steve used to get more of Tony's references. "Two fictional spaceships," he explained, "from popular entertainment that a lot of people have very strong feelings about."

"So, a vehement argument about something that can't be conclusively proven and that's ultimately pointless?" 

"You got it. But by the time I finished reading that, or at least read enough of it to realize that was what was going on, it was late." He shrugged. "So apart from figuring out that people get into pointless fights on the internet even when they're on another planet, I got nowhere." 

Not that he'd been looking for anything important. Just a better understanding of what the planet was like, something to help with this and future trade negotiations. Or maybe a clue to why this planet was so fucked up. 

"You won't have as much time to read tonight," Loki reminded him. "Now that you're allowed to associate with civilized people, you'll be expected to come to dinner with Minister Jarmenil and whatever other bureaucrats and minor officials she's invited to gawp at the offworlders." 

"Was it that bad?" 

"I assume you've been to this sort of dinner before," Loki said. "Not unpleasant, just intensely dull, unless you're fortunate enough to be seated near the one or two interesting people in attendance." 

He paused for a moment, then added, "I was definitely not one of the fortunate. I had someone very interested in discussing what agricultural methods we were employing in New Asgard on one side of me, and one of the Minister's spouses, who has just published a book of extremely lurid poetry, on the other." 

If the alternative was being married to a poet, celibacy seemed like a much better option, but Tony already knew that he and Jarmenil didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. 

"Well, the company will be better tonight," Tony said cheerfully. "I'm bound to liven the party up a little. I mean--an actual savage at the dinner table? How shocking. People will be having the vapors left and right."

"It isn't as bad as that," Loki said.

"It _feels_ that way," he muttered, but it wasn't as though Loki gave a damn about how Tony felt about things, so he let it drop.

****

When the negotiations broke for lunch, Tony had been forced to revise his opinion of how the Ghalusians viewed him. He wasn't a savage. He was Loki's trained monkey.

At any given time, there were about a dozen Ghalusians in the room, not counting the security guards flanking the door: Jarmenil and the representatives from the ministries that oversaw mining, science, and something called "non-scientific technology" (which Tony figured was a roundabout way of saying magic) were always there; their secretaries, assistants, and general flunkies cycled in and out, bringing reference materials or going to research a point in dispute. 

But even with all those people there, any time Tony had raised a point during the negotiations, every last one of the Ghalusians had looked directly at Loki, waiting for him to confirm, agree with, or repeat whatever Tony had said before they would deign to respond to it. 

And even then, they'd seemed stunned when Tony had raised a valid point, like how the written draft proposal the assistant minister for mining had given them promised them ore with a minimum eleven percent jethracite content, while their verbal discussion had mentioned nineteen percent. 

"Why the ore?" he'd asked, first of all. "Why not the refined mineral?"

Since nobody seemed very interested in answering his question, he was glad when Loki stepped in. "It's much less stable when refined, and while the chance of an explosion is still very small, it's too much of a risk when there's only the ship's hull between us and vacuum. We can't carry as much ore as we could refined jethracite, but it's worth the trouble." 

"All the more reason to make sure we're getting a higher percentage yield in the ore, right?"

"As my associate says," Loki said to the assistant minister. "While eleven percent might be an acceptable yield, the fact that you've said one thing while your paperwork says another..." He trailed off significantly. 

"An unfortunate oversight," the man had said quickly. "A clerical error." 

They'd let it go, though Tony planned to check those contracts over carefully before Loki signed them. 

And now they were all sitting there in the courtyard of the Minister's residence for the midday meal. The building was clearly more government building than private home, but the way Jarmenil had shown them briefly around the area, pointing out some of the delicate flowering plants, led Tony to believe that the garden was _hers_ , not something maintained strictly for appearance's sake. 

Lunch involved drinking more of that pink tea and eating sandwiches--some things were clearly universal, and "put things in bread so you can eat with your hands" seemed to be one of them--and, for the Ghalusians, pretending Tony still didn't exist. 

It gave him a chance to observe the Ghalusians, anyway. He thought he was starting to pick out what physical traits identified someone as a Ghalusian, and what was just individual variation. They seemed to come in the same basic range of hair colors and skin tones as humans and Asgardians did--he was pretty sure that the green hair on the woman who brought in the lunch trays was a dye job, anyway--but the deep vertical forehead wrinkles he'd thought just meant that the customs official at the spaceport frowned too much seemed to be a species trait; everyone had them, to some degree or another, the variations not seeming to be related to age or gender. The same for the pattern of freckling--redder than human freckles--that ran along their hands and disappeared under their sleeves. 

_So_ , Tony found himself thinking, _basically Star Trek aliens--human except for a little makeup._ He knew better than to assume that everything about them was human--well, their physical strength (at least as far as Tony understood it; he hadn't actually asked Minister Jarmenil how much she could bench) and longevity definitely weren't. But they were as human-like as the Asgardians, anyway, which could vary from "extremely" to "not at all" depending on which bit of cultural weirdness Tony had just smacked into face-first. 

He wished they'd had an actual lunch break, so that he and Loki could return to their quarters and discuss the negotiations so far. He felt like things were going ridiculously slowly, and he couldn't figure out why. 

Despite the familiarity of the negotiation process, Tony couldn't be sure the delays weren't a cultural thing. Maybe there was some sort of social taboo against reaching an agreement too quickly, for some reason that Tony couldn't immediately see. He knew what he needed to research tonight, at least. 

It couldn't just be the Ghalusians trying to drive a hard bargain, he thought. They were absolutely in a position of strength here; a lot of what Thor was able to offer them was in the form of promises of _future_ trade and support, when New Asgard was on its feet and possibly on its own planet again. 

But that meant that the Ghalusians could have just looked Loki straight in the eye (nobody seemed interested in making eye contact with Tony) and offered their terms on a "take it or leave it" basis. And, as long as they were terms that Asgard could actually meet, they'd have had little choice but to take it. 

Tony almost wished that was what the Ghalusians had done; whether they could accept the bargain or not, he and Loki would be back in the spaceport this evening, free of any more of their "obligations to the bond," as Jarmenil had euphemistically described it when she'd mentioned it briefly upon their arrival that morning, before any of the other negotiators had come in. And tomorrow, the next day at the latest, the ship would be here and they'd be able to leave this place and all its insane prejudices behind them. 

But instead, the negotiations were proceeding at an agonizing pace. There hadn't been any other mistakes as blatant as the one with the minerals contract, but there'd been a lot of having to re-bargain for something Tony thought they'd already agreed to, and he wanted to know why. 

But the lunch break ended without Tony having been able to come up with an excuse to get Loki away from the group of Ghalusians, so any investigation would have to wait until they were done with business for the day. 

And even then, he remembered, he was going to have to sit through dinner with the Ghalusians first. And after that--

No. He really didn't want to think about "after that." He just needed to concentrate on the afternoon's business at hand. The sooner they concluded their negotiations, the sooner they could get off this planet. 

And that, Tony reminded himself, was absolutely the right thing to do, because he wasn't sure his ego could withstand too many more nights of Loki getting away from him as quickly as humanly (Asgardianly?) possible.

****

"I've never actually met a mortal before," said the Ghalusian man on Tony's left. When he told Bruce about this dinner later, Tony decided that the only accurate way to describe him was to refer to Monty Python's "Upper-Class Twit of the Year" sketch. At least Bruce would get the reference; Loki might get his point by taking the words at face value, but it wouldn't be the same.

At least this guy was talking to Tony, which was more than the woman on his right was willing to do. He'd asked her to pass the salt (and it was actually salt, too, which was both reassuring and a little annoying; you'd think aliens would have more interesting condiments) and she'd simply stared right past his ear for a moment, then turned to the woman on _her_ right and begun a loud conversation about how in her father's day, service bonds were restricted to those mortals who could demonstrate that they would be useful to Ghalusian society, and not just "a convenient excuse for the lesser races to take advantage of our culture and resources."

Tony had never punched an old lady in the teeth before. He still hadn't, but it had been a near thing. 

The man--he'd introduced himself as Harilon, one of the minor functionaries from the Ministry of Commerce, which was another nice thing about him; Tony only knew anyone else's name from overhearing them introducing themselves to Loki--gave Tony an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Some of my people are rather backward in their views." 

Some of his people? Tony wanted to say. How about the whole damn planet? He could see, obviously, that living for thousands of years gave you an advantage. Imagine hundreds or thousands of years of da Vinci in his prime, for example, or Shakespeare, or Einstein. (Or, for that matter, of Tony Stark.) But it didn't make you inherently better than people who were lucky to reach a century. It certainly didn't make them animals in need of being fucked into obedience. 

But Harilon was the only person who seemed interested in talking to him as an actual person--except Loki, of course, but Loki was at the other end of the table, trapped between their host and a Ghalusian woman draped in layers of gauzy, colorful garments, in sharp contrast to everyone else. The fabrics the other Ghalusians were wearing looked to be expensive, at least from an Earth perspective, but the colors were all sober, the cuts conservative. 

Tony wondered if that was the poet Loki had told him about. Wouldn't it be good etiquette to seat their honored guest next to different people every night, so that more people would get a chance to speak with him? Or--she was the Minister's wife, after all, if she was the poet, so maybe she'd asked to be next to Loki again as a favor. Somehow, he didn't think Loki was feeling especially favored. 

In fact, the last time Tony had seen Loki looking that bored, it had been followed up by quite a few things onboard ship being transformed into frogs--for practice, Loki had said; "and because it annoys you all," had gone unspoken. 

But there wasn't a sudden plague of amphibians, and Tony gritted his teeth and said, "Well, not everyone can be as forward-thinking as you are," to Harilon. 

He beamed approvingly at Tony at that. "You flatter me. But I do think we should be more liberal in our attitude toward service bonds. While Kesta is right, and we do grant more bonds than we used to, they're primarily for mortals in your situation, short-term bonds for offworlders who have business to conduct."

 _You aren't going to punch him, either,_ Tony told himself. _One, if they're like Asgardians, it won't do much good without the suit. Two, if you were going to get yourself locked up in the spaceport until Val can come and get you, the time to do that was before you had sex with Loki._ "And you think that should change?"

"Absolutely!" Harilon said. "In my opinion, we should allow more Arutans here, even if they can't demonstrate that they'd be of value to us. Isn't it enough that they feel their time here could be of value to them? We should allow more students, for example. And artists' residencies, perhaps. I keep bringing it up to the appropriate offices, but no one seems to take me seriously." 

Tony frowned. "So... who do they get bonded to?" He'd been wondering that already. He'd assumed that if you were brought here because you had skills or talents that the Ghalusians found valuable, you'd be bonded with someone in your field--another scientist, or musician, or whatever you were. But if there wasn't someone already trying to bring you to Ghalus, how would you get bonded to someone?

"There could be a registry," Harilon said. "Citizens who support the increased inclusion of mortal races in our society could put their names on file with the Ministry, and could be assigned a bondservant when an appropriate match was found. I, for one, would be happy to contribute in that way. It'd be quite the responsibility, of course, but I genuinely believe that people like you would _invigorate_ our culture. So much raw, natural, _primal_ energy that I think we're sorely lacking these days." 

Ugh. Tony was not liking the vibe he was getting from this guy, especially with the way he managed to make "invigorate" sound lascivious.

"I mean, look at you," Harilon said, gesturing with a forkful of some sort of green vegetable. "You're shaking up the negotiations, aren't you? Trying to keep things moving along even when some of those old fussbudgets want to dither over terms forever. And good for you," he added, capping it off by patting Tony on the knee, just in case Tony hadn't realized he was being patronized. 

Tony decided that, since he didn't want to risk offending their hosts before the negotiation was concluded--and didn't want to hear the crap Loki was likely to give him if he blew his top because one alien guy got a little handsy--his best recourse was to stare straight in front of him, at the oversized centerpiece made from fruits and vegetables carved into the shapes of the local flora, and attempt to eat his dinner. 

And, possibly, to insist that Loki make some kind of excuse as to why Tony wouldn't be at dinner for the rest of their visit, just so that he could avoid stabbing someone with a fork.

****

They managed to get through both dinner and the after-dinner wine and conversation without any incident; contrary to Tony's expectations (and, honestly, after dealing with Harilon for the rest of the meal, his _hope_ ), Loki was clearly bored, but excruciatingly polite to their host and to the other guests.

Tony really should have expected that, Tony figured. From everything Thor had ever said, Loki had been a relatively normal prince of Asgard until shortly before Thor came to Earth the first time. He'd have to know how to behave at a dinner party. How to be charming to important people. How to conceal the fact that Loki was as appalled at Ghalusian customs as Tony was. 

Tony just wasn't used to Loki being polite. Even now that he and Loki were on friendly terms, they'd probably give Miss Manners an apoplectic fit, after all.

And he didn't like it, particularly, because Loki was so much more fun to be around when neither of them was minding his manners. 

On the other hand, it did give Tony an incentive to put up with the Ghalusians--the ones who looked right through him, the ones who made awkward conversation and seemed terrified that Tony would attack them at any second, the ones--all right, the _one_ \--who didn't seem to understand the concept of keeping his hands to himself. There was no way he was going to lose his cool before Loki did.

At least, not in public. 

"Well, that was unsurprisingly horrible," Tony said, as soon as the door was closed. Loki had dispelled the musical enchantment when they left for dinner; if he stopped the music when they weren't in their quarters, it would be less obvious that it was intended to complicate things for any eavesdroppers. Tony didn't wait for him to cast it again, though, because at this point, he really didn't give a damn about who heard him complain. 

"Deputy Harilon didn't seem that unpleasant," Loki said, frowning. "Though Minister Kesta probably was. She had quite a bit to say to me last night about the wisdom of traveling with the uncivilized." He gave Tony a fleeting, tight smile. "I see her point, but it's Thor's ship, so we're stuck with him."

Kesta? Oh, the old bat who'd been on his other side. "She pretended I was invisible," Tony said, "which could have been a lot worse. At least she didn't explain to me at great length that letting more mortals take service bonds would be _invigorating_."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Invigorating?" 

"He didn't come right out and say that he wanted his very own mortal who was required to let Harilon fuck him, but it was obvious. And if I missed it, the third time he 'accidentally' patted me on the ass after dinner would have made it clear enough, anyway." Tony sighed. "I feel like when I get back to Earth, I need to call about eighty percent of the women I've ever talked to at a party and apologize. I don't think I've ever been that creepy, but just in case." 

"If you made them endure your company," Loki said, "you should have done that regardless." 

Tony dropped down into a chair, wondering if the housekeeper would be willing to have someone bring them another bottle of wine. The one they'd been served with dinner had been pretty good, even if the after-dinner choice had been the same sticky-sweet variety that had been with their tray last night. 

And, to be honest, after this evening, Tony really wanted a drink. Maybe something stronger than wine, really. 

On the other hand, he didn't really want to convey the impression that he had to get drunk to be able to tolerate the rest of the evening. Instead, he sighed and stretched. "Maybe if he talked to you, Harilon would discover just how 'invigorating' I'm not." 

Oh. That sounded self-pitying as hell. "I mean," he added quickly, "it's not like mortals are automatically more exciting in bed than your people are, right?"

"No," Loki agreed. "Not automatically." 

"Watch it, or I might take that as a compliment." 

"If you like." Loki paced around the room for a minute or two, coming to rest next to the windows. The living room was the only place with a decent-sized window--both bedrooms had only high, narrow slits--but at least it looked out onto the Minister's garden. The grounds were kept well-lit; Tony had noticed that the lights were still on out there when he went to bed last night, so at least Loki wasn't staring moodily out into the darkness like he was posing for the cover of a goth album. 

Tony let him stand there for a few minutes, and then said, "There's still something we have to do tonight." 

"And you'd like to get it over with as soon as possible again?" 

"I was going to put it a lot more tactfully." It wasn't wrong, though. He could log into the network and start looking for references on Ghalusian business practices, but if he did that now, he knew that all he was going to be able to think about was what would have to happen at the end of the evening. 

If they went to bed now, he could get up afterward, take a shower, and come back out here to do more research. 

"Perhaps we should," Loki agreed. "I need to make a start on constructing some of the spellwork we're offering as part of the negotiations, and I'd prefer to work without interruption." 

"I was just thinking that. Well, something like that, anyway." He frowned. "I thought they wanted access to Asgardian magic in general. Like, instruction manuals." 

"They do. But they also want certain specific spells performed, things they won't have anyone capable of doing for quite some time even once we've shared our knowledge with them. If what they've said is correct, the spells they want me to reinforce were performed by an Asgardian in the first place. That's one reason Thor sent me rather than coming himself." Loki still hadn't turned away from the window, which might have been one of the reasons Tony didn't feel he needed to hold his tongue. 

"I'm glad it wasn't Thor," he said. "That would have been... awkward." 

Now Loki did turn around, eyes narrowed and mouth set tight. "And this isn't?" 

"It is," he acknowledged. "And whatever word goes past 'awkward.' But it would have been even worse with Thor."

For one thing, he didn't actually want to have sex with Thor. For another, he suspected there was someone on the ship who _did_ want to, for all that he probably wasn't taking advantage of being off the ship with Thor right now, and Tony didn't want to get in the way. (That particular someone was good enough at getting in his _own_ way.)

"Thor probably wouldn't have agreed," Loki said. "He'd have been outraged on your behalf, got into an argument with that fool at the spaceport, and we'd have to find another source for the jethracite. The electronics components would be possible to find elsewhere, but jethracite isn't nearly as common." 

"I notice you weren't outraged on my behalf," Tony muttered. 

"You're perfectly capable of being outraged on your own behalf," Loki said, "and I'm more practical than Thor is." 

Tony really couldn't argue with that. "What about being outraged on _your_ behalf? It's not like you're not involved in this." 

"I don't find that particularly worthy of outrage," Loki said. "It's hardly the worst thing I've ever been required to do, or the most unpleasant." 

"Well, that's high praise," Tony said. "But no, you're not the most unpleasant thing I've had to do, either." 

That got a laugh from Loki. "Now that we've both agreed that the other is preferable to, say, torture, we should probably..." 

"Yeah," Tony said. "Come on." 

He led the way into the larger bedroom and began to undress as soon as he was through the door. "Put on some mood music?" When Loki cast the spell, he frowned. The music playing was slow and somber, not quite a dirge, but not that far from it either. 

"Maybe I should have rephrased that," he said. "Put on some 'get in the mood' music. That probably matches our moods, but it's not exactly a great accompaniment to sex." 

Loki made another gesture, and the music changed, to something like the piece that had played the night before. "Does that suit you better?" 

"It doesn't make me feel like I'm at my own funeral, at least, but somebody should introduce you to Marvin Gaye." Tony tossed his shirt onto a chair and started on his pants. The music didn't make him think that Loki found this an even grimmer task than Tony did, either, and even if that might be true, Tony didn't want the reminder. 

But even if Loki did think of it that way, he was still going through with it, and that was all that mattered. Loki undressed quickly, lying down on the bed before Tony had finished getting his clothes off. Tony hesitated a little, looking down at him. It really was a pity that this was happening, because the circumstances meant that once they left Ghalus, it would probably never happen again. 

On the other hand, from Loki's behavior last night, it probably wouldn't ever have happened anyway.

He got on the bed next to Loki, leaning over to kiss him. Loki didn't respond right away, so he said, "Should we do this like last night, then? Strictly business?" 

Loki considered for a moment. "Since you're the one making the bigger sacrifice here, I don't mind letting you decide that for us." 

Tony snorted. "I'm not, really. Yeah, the situation is crap, but it's not like I didn't enjoy what we did last night. I know you didn't, but I did, no matter how eternally pissed off I am at this entire planet for making us do it. So if one of us is making a sacrifice, it's not actually me." He kissed Loki again, and this time, Loki kissed him back. 

It was, as kisses went, a pretty tame one--not that Tony was complaining--but when they separated, Loki seemed more relaxed, and he was smiling; it wasn't even one of his smiles that made Tony wonder what obnoxious thing Loki had just decided to do to him. 

"What makes you believe I wasn't enjoying myself?" Loki asked.

"Maybe the fact that after I came, you got up and left?" Tony said. "I get it, you're not actually required to come since _you_ don't need to be kept on a leash, but if you were enjoying it, I'd have thought you..." He trailed off as something occurred to him. 

"You were trying to spare me," he said slowly. "You thought I'd be relieved to have it over as quickly as possible."

"Really, Stark," Loki drawled, "does that sound like something I would do?" 

"You tell me." But Loki wouldn't, Tony was sure of that. Loki would probably be happier if Tony still thought he'd stopped because it meant he didn't have to hide his utter disgust of Tony for a moment longer. 

Loki, Tony thought, not for the first time, was a real pain in the ass sometimes. 

"Anyway," he went on, "if we have to do this, and we've already established that we do, maybe we should at least attempt to enjoy it? It'll make it easier to get through. And then, when we go back to the ship, we can just, I don't know, pretend it didn't happen." 

"We are not pretending this didn't happen," Loki said sharply. "We are making absolutely certain that Thor is informed of this so that none of us is ever put into this particular situation again." 

"Okay, good point, but after that." 

"After that," Loki said, "I can assure you that I won't be tempted to sit around and talk about our adventures on Ghalus--with you, or anyone else."

"Fine, then. Let's just admit that aside from the fact that I'd like to go back in time, find the person who thought up this particular 'scientific fact,' and punch them in the face, the actual act isn't nauseating to either of us, and we might as well enjoy it as much as we can?" 

Loki didn't admit anything of the sort, but he did kiss Tony again, growing more and more demanding as the kiss went on. Tony started running his hands over Loki's body, making mental note of everywhere that provoked a reaction from him. If they were going to try to enjoy this, he thought, he was going to do his best to make it good for Loki. After all, Loki had done the same for him last night, even if Tony was sure that was mostly due to the requirements the Ghalusians imposed on them. 

Tony rolled onto his side, and Loki's arm draped over him automatically, a cool hand resting casually on Tony's ass. That met with Tony's approval--both the touch and the casual arrogance with which Loki did it, to be honest. It seemed that Loki had taken him at his word; if Tony said that he enjoyed having sex with Loki, then Loki was going to believe him. 

Which was good, because he deserved some fantastic sex to make up for all the frustration and humiliation he was having to go through on Ghalus. 

And, well, Loki deserved some great sex to make up for having to sit next to the poet two nights in a row, Tony decided, so he kissed Loki again and then slid further down the bed. 

Loki didn't even pretend ignorance of what Tony had in mind. "I don't think that counts as our required 'activity' for the night," he pointed out.

"I'm going to graciously ignore the opportunity you gave me to mock you for implying that you can't get it up twice in a night," Tony said, grinning up at him, "and just point out that if you don't want me to get you hard by sucking your cock, that's your loss." He paused. "And mine, really, because I hate not getting what I want." He lowered his head, licking a stripe along the side of Loki's cock. 

Loki waved a hand imperially. "Well, if it'll make you happy." 

Tony laughed. "You're so generous." He moved to lie between Loki's legs, making it easier for him to take Loki's cock into his mouth. 

"You know," Loki said, and then paused for a moment as Tony began to suck. When he continued speaking, there was a definite breathy quality to his voice that Tony appreciated. "I can see one real advantage to this right away: you can't talk while you're doing it." 

"I can try," Tony said, his mouth still full, so that it came out as inarticulate mumbling. 

And yeah, this was so much better than last night, because Loki laughed, and Tony could let himself pretend that this was something they might have done anyway, just because they wanted to. 

He was enjoying himself, enjoying the feeling of power it gave him to draw reactions out of Loki: moans and gasps, the feeling of Loki's cock growing hard and heavy against his tongue. Enjoying the weight of one of Loki's hands at the back of his head, too; he'd have complained if it felt like Loki was trying to hold him in place, but it didn't; he could pull away any time he wanted to. No matter what this really was, it felt like Loki just wanted to touch him, to know that Tony was there. 

Which was nonsense, but if you couldn't lie to yourself while you were having sex with a really hot guy, when _could_ you? 

Tony pressed his tongue against the vein running along the underside of Loki's cock, feeling Loki shiver, his muscles tensing. 

"That's enough of that," Loki said. Tony pulled back to look enquiringly up at him. He'd have done it anyway, but he also felt a twinge of compulsion from the cuffs; it wasn't quite a direct order, but apparently enough for the magic to take notice. "I realize I'm giving you yet another opening for mockery, but if you want me to be able to fuck you sooner rather than later, I'm going to need you to stop now." 

Tony grinned at him. "And I'm going to generously avoid taking that chance at mockery," he said. 

"Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Nah," Tony said, "just because I think it's entirely accurate to say that you're my favorite person on the planet." 

"I'd be flattered, except that I know your opinion of this planet." 

"With your personality, maybe you should take what you can get." 

"Oh, I plan to," Loki said, his voice lowering to something Tony wasn't going to call a purr because that would imply that he thought Loki was _trying_ to be seductive. 

Except that Loki then took hold of Tony's shoulders and flipped him over onto the bed, pinning him down against the mattress, and the way he looked down at Tony made him think that maybe that was exactly what Loki had been doing.

"Do you know what I want?" 

Tony pretended to consider for a moment. "Wealth, power, your own planet to rule?" 

"That's more or less what everyone wants," Loki said, "whether they admit it or not. And ruling a planet, I've discovered, is a great deal duller than it looks." 

Tony wondered if now was a good time to ask questions; Thor had mentioned, briefly, that Loki had been ruling Asgard disguised as their father, but most of his description had involved bad theater and tacky statuary, not the day-to-day workings of government. 

And now wasn't a good time to ask, it turned out, because Loki grinned down at him again and went on, "But what I want at this specific moment--though it should be clear that it _is not an order_ \--is to get you ready and then let you ride me."

Oh. Okay. That was actually a plan Tony could get behind, one hundred percent. "What you mean is that you want to just lie back and let me do all the work. I should've known you were a pillow princess." 

"This is for your benefit," Loki reminded him, "or at least that's what Ghalusian 'science' tells us. It's only fair that you should do your share of the work." 

"And you're all about being fair." 

"When it benefits me, of course I am." Still looming over Tony, Loki reached over and found the jar on the bedside table. He kissed Tony quickly--unnecessarily, really, but it wasn't like Tony was going to complain--and then moved off him, settling down to sit near Tony's hips. "Turn--no," he said, catching himself. "Can you turn over for me?"

"I never deny anyone the chance to ogle my ass," Tony agreed, and he rolled over, getting onto his hands and knees, turning his head to look back at Loki. 

"Never?" Loki said, unscrewing the lid of the jar. "So should I invite Deputy Minister Harilon to come up here?" 

"I hate you. And no. He can ogle it fully clothed and from a safe distance." 

"Safe for whom?" Loki spread Tony's cheeks open with one hand, pressing his finger against Tony's hole. 

"For him, obviously," Tony said, gasping as Loki's fingertip breached the ring of muscle. "I'm a dangerous animal, and surely you'd protect your property?" 

He couldn't see Loki's face, but from the warm amusement in his voice, Tony suspected he was smiling. "So this--" his free hand caressed Tony's ass, squeezing a little-- "is my property now?"

Tony suddenly wished he'd chosen his words more carefully. "Well, that's what the Ghalusians think, right? I mean, yeah, bondservants can end the bond whenever they want, but those cuffs do mean I don't have much choice in what I do otherwise."

"Ah," Loki said, and Tony was sure he was only imagining the hint of disappointment. "Well, yes, in that case, I suppose I'd be required to protect my investment, or however it is that the Ghalusians see the benefit to them."

Tony didn't bother trying to come up with a reasonable reply; it wasn't exactly the conversation he wanted to have with Loki's finger--no, _fingers,_ now, as Loki added a second one--inside him. 

Apparently, Loki wanted to have it, though, because he went on, "Traditionally, I suppose the benefit was being allowed to bring a mortal with valuable skills or knowledge here." 

"Also," Tony said, pushing back against Loki's fingers, because fine, if they were going to have a sociological discussion while fucking, he wasn't going to let it be said that he couldn't concentrate on two things at once, "they're assholes who like the idea of having one of the 'lesser races' at their mercy." 

"That, too," Loki agreed. "Though based on the number of service bonds agreed to each year, only a very few Ghalusians are ever involved in one."

"Then they're just okay with other people being--" _Assholes_ , he wanted to finish, but Loki crooked his fingers just _so_ and Tony's hips jerked, trying to get friction on his cock and finding only empty air. "God!"

"Keep calling me that," Loki said, "and I might think you like me a little." He kept working his fingers deep inside Tony, stretching him open, making him ache to be filled more completely. 

"Like I said, my favorite person on the planet." Tony gave up on conversation for a little while then, letting groans, gasps, and the way he pushed back to meet every thrust of Loki's fingers speak for him instead. 

"I think you're ready now, aren't you?" Loki said, slowly withdrawing his fingers from Tony's body. 

To his embarrassment, Tony let out an involuntary whimper. Maybe Loki hadn't noticed, he hoped, but then Loki's chuckle let him know that he definitely had. 

"Oh, yes," Loki said. "I definitely think so." 

Tony let himself drop down onto his stomach, breathing hard as he watched Loki lie back on the bed and then slick himself up with more of the gel from the jar. "What about you?" he said. "Ready?" He certainly looked ready, his cock hard and glistening with lube. 

"Whenever you are," he replied in a studiedly nonchalant tone. 

Oh, Tony was going to enjoy making him lose that. He got up to straddle Loki's hips, facing him. "Hold yourself in position for me?" he asked, and Loki wrapped his hand around the base of his cock, lining it up to nudge at Tony's hole. 

"Thanks," Tony murmured, and began to slowly lower himself onto Loki's cock. He took his time--he wasn't really used to this, after all, and not only was this the second day in a row, there were at least a few more to come--but on the other hand, watching Loki clench his jaw and curl his hands into fists in an effort to maintain control was an unexpected benefit. 

"You just lie there," Tony reminded him. "Don't do anything. Just let me." He slid down further, until he had taken Loki all the way inside, and then held still for a moment, breathing deeply. He wanted to resent the hell out of this--and he did; he hated everything about this requirement and the reasoning behind it. 

But he couldn't hate what they were doing, because honestly, it was good. And after all, it had been a while; his attempt to reconcile with Pepper had fizzled out months before he'd accepted Thor's invitation to travel with them, and while he'd had the opportunity for few brief flings since then, even those hadn't had a lot of appeal.

He'd been depressed about what had happened with the team, busy with work, unable to find anyone to compare to Pepper--all excuses to cover the real reason, which was simply that he was getting too old for this shit. Not physically--obviously, no problems there, and if there had been, he could afford the medication to correct them--but it just didn't have the same thrill these days. 

This, on the other hand--this was different. Obviously nothing like what he had with Pepper--that had been a real relationship, not just sex--but sex with a friend (more or less) definitely had more appeal than picking up a stranger, these days. 

So of course this was good, at least set apart from the context, and if he had to do it, Tony was going to enjoy it. He might fantasize about nuking this place from orbit when they left (even if their ship carried that kind of weaponry, he never _would_ , but that didn't mean it wasn't tempting to think about), but he'd agreed that this was their most sensible option, and so he had to go through with it. And that said, there wasn't any harm in making the best of it, was there? 

Right now, the "best of it" was to begin moving, raising himself up, letting Loki's cock slip almost entirely out of him, then lowering himself again. Slowly, at least for now, slow enough that Loki started groaning with frustration. 

"Stark," he began, and then stopped himself. "I definitely have to get them to agree to taking those cuffs off in here," he added. 

"You really do," Tony agreed. "For a lot of reasons, but one of them is definitely that I get the feeling it's putting a damper on your dirty talk, and I don't want to miss out." He grinned. "I could gag you," he suggested. "Then you couldn't order me around." 

He was glad he was watching Loki's face just then, because the brief flash of something that might have been alarm crossing it was his only clue that, "You could _try_ ," wasn't meant as flippantly as Loki made it sound. 

And then Tony remembered the way Loki had been bound before Thor had taken him back to Asgard, and decided he probably should have known better. 

"Or you could just be careful until they agree this counts as a private home," he said, and saw Loki's jaw relax almost imperceptibly. "I mean, it should, shouldn't it? Jarmenil and her family live here." He began to move again, a little more rapidly, groaning a little as Loki lifted his hips slightly in an attempt to get deeper inside him. 

This really was the weirdest pillow talk Tony could remember having, but it wasn't like he could fall back on the usual. It would feel weird to tell Loki how hot he was, or how much Tony wanted this, when they knew why it was happening. It might make things awkward later, especially since Tony wouldn't have been lying, not completely. 

"They do," Loki said, arching his back and reaching up to clutch at Tony's hips, "but it's public property--a government building." He must have been having some of the same thoughts Tony was, because he said, "And I suppose it's a tribute to your... skills?... that this conversation isn't totally off-putting." 

"What, you thought you were the only god in the room? Tony Stark, sex god, at your service."

Damn it, it felt good to laugh like this, to make Loki laugh with him, to turn something he was sure was meant to be humiliating and degrading--something to keep the wild animal controlled--into _fun_. It was a giant fuck-you to the Ghalusians, and Tony needed that. 

He slammed down onto Loki's cock, taking him in deep and hard, then clenching his muscles tight around it. He wrapped his hand around his own cock, working it in fast strokes, in time with the movements of his hips. "Getting close?" he asked Loki, though he thought he might know the answer, from the eager way Loki was responding. 

He nodded. "If you keep going like that," he said, slowly enough that Tony could tell he'd had to choose his words carefully, "it won't be long." 

"Good," Tony said, "because I plan to keep going just--" he lifted himself up again-- "like--" and down, hard and fast, until his ass was flush against Loki-- "that," he finished, clenching tight around Loki, then giving his cock a few more quick strokes until he came with a loud groan. 

He let his hand fall away, too oversensitive to touch himself further, but continued fucking himself on Loki's cock until Loki gasped, his body tensing beneath Tony as he came. 

"Tony Stark, sex god," he said again, grinning down at Loki, who shook his head.

"You have a ridiculously high opinion of yourself," Loki said, but he didn't object when Tony bent down and kissed him, so he'd take that as a sign that Loki secretly agreed. 

"I get the shower first tonight," Tony said, as he let Loki's cock slip out of him. "I want to get started on that research." 

"Try--" Loki paused. "I hope you're going to try not to get bogged down reading pointless arguments about popular entertainment this time." 

Tony rolled his eyes. "I didn't have anything specific to look for yesterday," he said. "I was just trying to get the feel of the culture." Then, quietly, he added, "Thanks for that." 

"I don't actually want you to have to do whatever I say," Loki said. "You're much more entertaining when you argue." 

"Yeah, that's not what you used to think." Tony winced. Okay, maybe bad etiquette to mention to the guy you just fucked that you met because he was trying unsuccessfully to mind-whammy you. Which made him wonder, if he still had the arc reactor, would he be able to resist the cuffs, too, or was the magic different enough that it would still work? Maybe he should try to take them as a souvenir and do a few experiments. 

_Tangent, Tony._

Loki was silent for a moment. "You were still more entertaining when you could fight back," he said, finally, "but that wasn't what I needed from you at the time." 

"Yeah. Well. Water under the bridge, yeah? I mean, you and I were trying to kill each other, and now we just argue until somebody threatens to throw us out an airlock if we don't shut up." Meanwhile, some of the people he'd thought were friends, that he'd thought he could rely on even if they disagreed, had stabbed him in the back. A lot had changed in the past few years, he guessed. 

And he didn't want to think about that, at all, so he just said, "Shower," and got up from the bed.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know this is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad planet, trust me. You should have heard me while I was writing this. 
> 
> **Next time:** Tony loses his cool with the Ghalusians. I feel like "this does not go well" is getting overused here, so I won't say it.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony loses his cool with the Ghalusians. They're not impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're all so wonderful. Thank you for reading! <3

****

The shower felt good; all the products provided for them were scented with what smelled like the same flowers Jarmenil had showed off in the garden, but at least it wasn't a very strong scent. The discovery, in the bathroom cupboard, of a jar the same color and with the same brand label as the lubricant, containing an ointment intended to (as the label tactfully put it), "relieve irritation of sensitive tissue," was even better. He supposed it was less consideration and more not wanting to give anyone a valid medical excuse to avoid his bondservant obligations, but still, Tony felt more comfortable after trying it.

Then he went out to the main room, calling out "It's all yours," as he passed the bedroom door. 

He logged into the computer network. Fortunately, one of the options on the home screen was for the local search engine--it was how he'd started poking around yesterday--so he started out with a search on "business negotiation tactics" and started following suggestions until he found what he was looking for: a collection of helpful articles aimed at junior business executives, put out by some professional organization. 

It was a good thing he was a fast reader, because there were a lot of them. They weren't very helpful from Tony's perspective, though; most of the negotiation strategies recommended sounded like the same advice he'd give someone back home.

There certainly wasn't anything at all to suggest that negotiations needed to be conducted at a snail's pace for reasons of etiquette. It looked like the Ghalusians were just, when it came right down to it, stalling. Tony moved on to a second site, with much the same results.

Were the Ghalusians hoping that the offworlders would get so frustrated by the delays that they'd make mistakes, or concede more than they ordinarily would because they were eager to get away from Ghalus? Possibly. It couldn't just be that they were bad at conducting negotiations; there was no way that the Minister of Commerce for a planetary government--on a planet that had frequent contact with other worlds--could be that bad at her job. 

And even if she were, because obviously political appointments weren't always based on qualifications, it would be even more likely that her underlings would have been chosen because they were good at _their_ jobs, to make up for her shortcomings. 

He'd talk it over with Loki in the morning. Maybe he could convince Loki to walk around the city with him for a while before breakfast; it would make eavesdropping much less likely, and it would be perfectly plausible: who wouldn't think that visitors would welcome a chance to see a little of the city? No matter what a dump the place was, locals _always_ found that reasonable.

Right now, everything he was reading was telling him there was no good reason for the delay, or at least no reason that he was going to like, and he didn't think that continuing to search was going to get him anywhere. After he'd looked at three different online publications, each with somewhat different business philosophies, and found nothing like what he wanted, he decided it was time to give up. 

He wasn't ready for bed yet, though; even without caffeine in his system, it was far too early for him to be able to sleep. Instead, he started looking for information about service bonds, just out of curiosity. 

"Find anything?" Loki asked from behind him, and Tony jumped a little. He'd heard Loki go in to shower, and heard him coming back out, but he'd assumed that he'd gone back to the bedroom, working on those spells he'd mentioned. 

"How long have you been standing there like that?" 

"About thirty seconds," Loki said. "I was about to call down to the kitchens and ask if someone could send up a tray; that kind of intricate spellwork takes a lot of energy. Should I get enough for you?" 

He really hadn't eaten that much at dinner, despite the food being good; he'd been too pissed off at Kesta and creeped out by Harilon. "Yeah, thanks," he said, "but something other than that tea." 

"I don't know that they have anything like black coffee," Loki said. "You should have brought some from the ship." Tony had made sure to pack an adequate supply of coffee beans--not to mention a grinder and a French press--because he might be going off to explore the galaxy, but not without his coffee. Usually, whenever they were on a planet, Tony investigated whatever hot stimulant drink was popular with the locals, but usually, people were willing to talk to him, so he could find out what that might be. 

"I just don't like drinking perfume." 

"It isn't that bad, but I'll see what they can do." 

Tony went back to what he was reading--an article about depictions of bondservants in popular media--while Loki went to the intercom. He didn't listen that closely to what Loki was saying, until something caught his attention. 

"A pot of the tea that you sent up with our breakfast," he said, "but also, if you have a tea, or any other hot drink, that's less floral--bitter, even. Unsweetened. Yes, that sounds ideal. If that could be sent up on our breakfast trays from now on? Yes, in addition to the other. My associate prefers it." He ended the conversation soon afterward and sighed. 

"Well, I've just gained a reputation as an eccentric," Loki said, "because the housekeeper sounded surprised that I'd concern myself with your food and drink preferences. But they have something you might like better than that tea. I don't know if it has caffeine in it, or how much--the level in Earth food and drink doesn't have much effect on Asgardians, but I don't know whether the Ghalusians are different." 

"Their wine doesn't seem stronger than Earth wine," Tony offered, "so maybe they're more susceptible to that kind of chemical than Asgardians?" 

"It's considered bad manners here to drink anything more than very mildly alcoholic at a formal gathering. The Minister has apparently dealt with Asgardians before and mentioned it; I think her previous Asgardian guests brought a flask of mead as a gift and stepped on a few toes by suggesting it be served at dinner. And I believe they're aware that mortals have a lesser tolerance, since you haven't made yourself ill with the wine we've been sent."

"So that's not really useful data. We're drinking their equivalent of wine coolers; it's not going to have that much effect even on me." Tony shrugged. "I don't need the caffeine. I just want something that I like the taste of. And if it has a _lot_ of caffeine, I do have a pretty high tolerance." 

"That's what I'd thought." Loki went over to lounge on one of the couches. "Don't let me interrupt you." 

Tony shook his head, getting up from the desk and stretching. "I'm done. I was just poking around."

"Did you find anything?"

"Yeah. It looks like they're just stalling, but I don't know why yet. My best guess is that they want us to get angry and give up more than we wanted to." He went over to the chair he'd started thinking of as "his" already, summarizing his findings for Loki as he did. 

"That was my impression as well," Loki said. "Obviously my knowledge of Ghalusian culture was lacking, but I'd never heard anything that would suggest they had a cultural reason to delay negotiations. So obviously they're up to something." 

"Just once," Tony said, "I'd like it if nobody was up to anything." 

There was a knock on the door, and Tony got up again. "It's probably expected that you'd send me to open the door," he said. "From my reading, bondservants are generally expected to be... servile, even if they're not generally used as servants, as such." 

They had been, from Tony's reading, thousands of years ago; they'd originally just been Arutans brought to Ghalus for domestic service. Back then, bonds had been pledged for a fixed term, after which the Arutan could either renew their bond or go back home with their accumulated pay. It was only in the last few Ghalusian lifetimes--fifteen thousand years or so, as more and more of the dirty jobs became automated and fewer servants were needed--that the idea that service bonds were for bringing skilled and talented mortals onto Ghalus had evolved, and the bonds had become increasingly uncommon.

He went over to answer the door and took the tray from the young Ghalusian woman standing just outside it. "Thank you," he said, even though she wouldn't meet his eyes and turned to go as soon as the tray was out of her hands. 

He closed the door and turned back into the room. "Food's here," he said, carrying it over to the table. Cold meat, more of the dark bread, more of the cheese, some sort of small pastries, and two teapots, he observed as he set it down. Lifting the lids of the teapots, he saw that one of them contained the pink tea that Loki seemed to like, and the other one had a dark red brew that smelled more spicy than floral. 

He poured out a little of the red tea and took a sip. Spicy, yes, but not at all sweet or perfumed. It wasn't coffee--the closest equivalent he could think of would be unsweetened black chai--but it was definitely more to his taste than the other beverage. He poured himself a full cup and then poured a cup from the other pot for Loki. 

"Thanks for asking for this," he said, sitting down at the table--a little gingerly, on the hard chair, but the salve really had been helpful.

Loki came over and took the chair across from him, sipping at the tea. "How did you know that about bondservants?" he asked. "It's not what I'd expect given their claims that only exceptionally skilled and valuable mortals are allowed to take a service bond." 

Tony explained the little of the history he'd discovered. "I doubt it's common knowledge. I mean, people forget history pretty quickly even if they were alive for it, and I don't think any of the Ghalusians would be." 

"No, I don't think any of them have ever lived quite that long. And you're certainly right about memory being short; look how quickly Asgard forgot Hela." Loki took a piece of the bread, then placed a slice of cold meat on it. "You might like this," he said after he took a bite, pointing out the particular meat to Tony. "It tastes like one of the common meats on Midgard." 

Tony took a piece himself and tried it tentatively. Loki and Thor had both helpfully tried to point out foods to him and Bruce before, on the grounds that it tasted like something from Earth, but they were often wrong. (Or right, more or less, but with some weird textural difference that made the food off-putting all the same. The completely new and different foods were often more appealing than the ones with some similarity to Earth foods.) 

This one was pretty close, though; it not only tasted a lot like beef, or maybe bison, but had the right texture. It was seasoned in a way that made Tony think of pastrami, which made Tony wish the dark bread tasted more like rye, or that there was some mustard available. Still, it was pretty good. 

"I didn't find a lot about the history of service bonds," Tony said. "I'd probably need access to something like a university library to get any details, or at least have a better idea of what to look for. But they do feature pretty heavily in popular literature, from what I can tell."

"Really?" Loki asked. "I didn't think they were all that common." 

"No, not if the government statistics were right; there are only eleven active service bonds on Ghalus as of tonight, and that includes us. But apparently the Ghalusians like stories about forbidden romance between bondholder and bondservant. It seems to be a popular subgenre of romance novels." 

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Forbidden? That seems odd, considering what we're expected to do." 

"We're supposed to have sex. Bondholders aren't supposed to fall in love with their bondservants, and they're _certainly_ not supposed to want to marry them and settle down." He shrugged. "Not that it wouldn't be without problems anyway, given the difference in lifespans, but..."

"But that's not insurmountable," Loki finished for him. "At least, Thor didn't think so where Dr. Foster was concerned." 

_She might have, though,_ Tony thought. He didn't really know why Thor and Jane broke up. Thor didn't particularly want to talk about it, and Tony could respect that. Tony didn't particularly want to sit around talking about what went wrong between him and Pepper, either. 

"Yeah, but when you add in the fact that the Ghalusians think that mortals are basically trained chimps, you can see why Ghalusian parents wouldn't be thrilled if their prospective son-in-law was one. So there are a lot of books where the lovers are tragically separated, some where they run away to live on some other planet, and a _very_ few where love conquers all and the disapproving family change their minds." 

Tony had skimmed a lot of them, at least those that were freely available on the network. "There's a lot of 'mortals are superior at sex because of how primitive they are' in those books, which probably explains Harilon." He poured himself another cup of the tea. "At least I can be sure you don't think that."

"No," Loki said, keeping his voice and expression deadpan. "I definitely don't think you're superior at sex." 

"I meant the primitive part!" 

"I know what you meant," Loki said, "and I stand by what I said." 

Tony was suddenly unsure of whether he wanted to smack Loki or kiss him, so he settled for taking another, very emphatic, bite of his food.

****

"Wait a minute, didn't we already settle that point yesterday?" Tony said, loudly enough that it would be difficult to ignore him, even if most of the Ghalusians pretended to. He flipped through the stacks of notes before him. "Yeah, we did. The balance of the electronics components are to be delivered--by which we mean 'available for collection'; we don't actually expect you to bring them to us--within a Ghalusian quarter-year, which by our calculations is approximately a hundred and six Earth days. Agreed to by all parties, yesterday."

Kesta waited until Tony had finished speaking, then, without acknowledging anything he'd said, went on. "So, Prince Loki, there is the matter of the time required before we can deliver the balance of the components. It is a significant quantity, after all, and--"

God damn it, Tony thought. Not only was Kesta stalling--they'd settled this _yesterday_ \--but she was totally ignoring him even when he had something valid to add to the discussion. What the fuck was even the point? Wasn't the whole idea behind the service bond that some mortals had enough to contribute that it was worth allowing them on Ghalus, anyway? 

"We. Settled. That. Yesterday," Tony said, even more loudly, biting off each word. "So if we can move the hell on?"

Minister Jarmenil frowned at--no, not really at him, but in his general direction. "This is a trade negotiation," she said calmly, "and should be approached with dignity and civility." 

"You first," Tony snapped. "We discussed this already. We settled it already. Minister Kesta agreed with it already. Why the hell are we doing this again?" 

That, at least, got her to address him directly. "Stark," she said, still in a voice of irritating calm, "you may not be aware of this, but your behavior is unacceptable for civilized beings." 

"If we could return to the question of the electronics delivery," Loki interjected, "I believe that you _will_ find that we resolved that issue yesterday morning." 

"No," Tony said sharply. "You shouldn't have to repeat everything I say just to get them to listen. And if they keep delaying things, I'm going to be forced to think that they're overestimating their ability to provide either electronics or jethracite ore."

Kesta's eyes narrowed. "Prince Loki, please bring your bondservant under control." 

"I don't actually believe that Stark is out of control," Loki said. "He's raising a few significant issues." 

"Damn right I am," Tony muttered, but Kesta wouldn't relent. 

" _Control your bondservant_ ," she repeated. 

Tony got to his feet. "I'm perfectly under control, thank you, Minister," he said. "But I'm done here." He realized that Deputy Harilon was watching him, his eyes bright, and Tony looked away. Great. Kesta wanted him put in his place, and Harilon was probably getting off on the thought of seeing a display of primitive aggression. 

Jarmenil frowned. "You argued most persuasively that your bondservant would be invaluable in these negotiations, Prince Loki," she said, "and yet, he's being a disruptive influence. I must agree with Minister Kesta. We are going to have to require that you demonstrate that your bondservant is, in fact, under your control, _now_ , or we will have to ask that you both return to the offworlders' wing of the spaceport until you can arrange transport off-world." 

Tony winced. He hadn't even lost his temper that badly, and yet their whole trade mission was in jeopardy. _Fuck this entire planet,_ he thought, but then looked at Loki. Loki's jaw was set, his expression coldly furious. From the direction of his glare, his anger wasn't directed at Tony for fucking up, either, but at the Ghalusians.

Loki wasn't going to do it. Loki was going to throw everything away because he knew how much Tony hated the way the cuffs could compel him to obey. 

That was... something. Something Tony didn't have the luxury of wondering about right now, though. "Do it," Tony said quietly. "Go ahead. I'll be okay." 

Loki looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. " _Sit down,_ Stark," he said, sharply--Tony assumed it was so that the Ghalusians knew he meant business, but it still raised his hackles a bit. 

The compulsion from the cuffs was strong enough that it nearly slammed him into the chair. 

"Now, apologize to our hosts. A general apology first, then individual ones to Ministers Kesta and Jarmenil." 

"I apologize," Tony said, almost stumbling over the words as the magical compulsion forced them out, "for my inappropriate and primitive behavior. I appreciate the honor that has been done to me by allowing me to participate in these negotiations, and I regret that my actions today have not been worthy of that honor." 

He wanted to vomit. Those weren't even his words--even if he'd wanted to apologize, he wouldn't have said _that_. But that was what he knew, deep down, would be an acceptable apology to the Ghalusians, and so that was what the magic controlling him gave him no choice but to say. 

Then he turned to Kesta. "I humbly apologize," he said, and he wasn't even allowed to make it sound sarcastic, damn it, "for forgetting my place as a mere mortal, and beg your forgiveness." 

He made the mistake of glancing at Harilon again, and that made him feel even sicker. The man was leaning forward on his elbows, breathing fast, and as Tony watched, he licked his lips. Then, suddenly, his face lost all expression and he straightened up in his chair. Tony turned in the direction Harilon was looking, and just caught the tail end of a truly poisonous look on Loki's face. 

That was another thing to think about later; he had one more apology to make. "I apologize, Minister," he said. "I should have controlled myself better, and I'm sorry that I was so rude to my host." He didn't want to apologize, but at least he hadn't been made to crawl to her; it was a slight improvement. 

"Will that do?" Loki said, his voice still cold and angry. "Or do you wish to humiliate him further just to prove a point?" 

"Put him in his place," Kesta said. "Mortals shouldn't interrupt when their superiors are speaking." 

He raised an eyebrow. "Really, Minister?" 

Jarmenil considered, then nodded. "It is a reasonable request on Kesta's part." 

"We have very different definitions of the word 'reasonable,'" Loki said, "but if you insist." 

Tony tensed up, waiting to feel the compulsion hit him again. He reminded himself that he'd been the one to ask for this, that Loki would have refused, and so he had no right to be angry. 

Loki hesitated, and Tony wondered if he was just reluctant, or if he was choosing his words carefully. "During the remainder of these negotiations," Loki said slowly, "you will not speak to anyone _except me_ unless you've been acknowledged and given permission to speak. The only exceptions are to ask 'May I speak?' or to warn of immediate and significant danger." 

Tony realized--and wondered if the Ghalusians did--that Loki had given him as much freedom as he could. He could still talk to Loki, which meant Loki could give him the permission to speak freely. He could ask "May I speak?" until it drove the Ghalusians up the walls, if he wanted to. And outside the actual negotiations, he could say whatever he wanted. 

No, he wasn't angry at Loki. That was a lot better than he'd been fearing, to be honest. 

"And now," Loki went on, "go back to our quarters and wait for me there. You may do what you like, but don't leave unless your safety depends on it." 

Tony wondered where Loki thought he might go. It wasn't like he knew his way around. They'd walked around a little that morning, but he hadn't paid much attention; he'd been more focused on their discussion about the possible motives behind the Ghalusians' delays. Or maybe he thought that word might spread--there were servants just outside the room much of the time, and there was probably a full security staff keeping an eye on the proceedings--and someone might start trouble with an unruly primitive. 

It didn't really matter, and he didn't have a chance to ask Loki. Tony had already risen from his chair and started toward the door, the enchantment prodding at his mind and keeping him walking in the direction of their quarters. 

It left him as soon as he was inside the door, though when he turned to test whether or not he could leave, he found that he couldn't even _move_ until he changed his intended destination. 

It was a good thing that the compulsion left him then, because his intended destination was the bathroom; he wasn't able to fight the urge to vomit any longer. 

He stood over the toilet until he was sure there was nothing left in his system to throw up, and then stood there a little longer, clutching tight at the edge of the sink to steady himself, until the dry heaves had passed. Then he cleaned himself up, brushed his teeth, and rinsed his mouth with water until he felt almost human. 

Almost. But not quite, which seemed exactly like he was supposed to be feeling on Ghalus.

****

Loki didn't come back before dinner; the young man from the first night brought up a tray for Tony that was obviously meant for one person. Loki must have requested it: there was a pot of the tea Tony preferred and a carafe of the wine he'd liked from last night, in addition to the plate of food and small loaf of bread.

Tony knew he needed to eat something. The meat was in a heavy, strongly-flavored sauce, served over a grain that had the texture of soft polenta; after one tentative taste, he didn't think he could get any more of it down, or keep it down if he forced himself to eat it. He poured himself a glass of the wine, drinking deeply as he pushed the food around on his plate. There was something green on the side, and he took a taste; it was a pickled vegetable of some kind, sour and astringent. No, thank you. 

He tore off a chunk of the bread and took a bite, chewing it cautiously. Yes, that seemed to be okay. That, the wine, and the tea would have to do for dinner tonight. He still felt too nauseated to be really hungry, anyway. 

By the time he'd eaten all the bread, the wine was gone as well. The tea had cooled; it was just a little more than lukewarm, but Tony made himself drink some of it anyway. The wine might not be strong, but it wouldn't hurt him to make sure he stayed hydrated.

He poured himself a second cup of the tea and carried it with him out of the room, leaving the rest of the food on the table. He'd intended to go back to the small bedroom he'd been sleeping in, but he realized before he got all the way across the living room that he and Loki hadn't fulfilled their "daily obligation" yet. He'd just wait for Loki in the larger room, then. 

Tony set his cup down on the table, and then decided he might as well undress, too. He'd sweated in his clothes--both from the nausea and from the stress of the compulsion--and there wasn't much point in changing into something else before Loki came back. 

Naked, he got into bed, sliding under the covers and lying down. He hated not having anything to do, but he really didn't feel like getting back up. He finally decided that he could run through some of the refinements he wanted to make to his armor once he was back on Earth. It wasn't much, but at least it kept his mind partially occupied. 

He might have dozed, or he might just have been staring blankly at the ceiling while he considered the next iteration of his armor; he really couldn't be sure since he hadn't been trying to track the passage of time. But after a while, he heard someone moving around in the living room, and a moment later, Loki came into the bedroom. 

"Stark? Are you all right?" 

"I'm fine," Tony lied. "Just great." 

Loki sat down on the edge of the bed. "You _are_ the one who told me to give into their demands." 

"I'm not blaming you," Tony said, though he was pretty damn annoyed that Loki's first reaction was to explain how this wasn't his fault. He knew it wasn't Loki's fault. He knew everything that happened today was his own fault, and he knew that he'd been the one to agree to the bond in the first place. Loki wouldn't have held it against him if he'd refused. 

"I'm sorry," Loki said, and Tony blinked, because that was an honest-sounding, straightforward apology from Loki. He wondered whether, if he looked out the window, he'd see pigs flying past. 

"Yeah, me too," Tony said dully. 

"I didn't come back before dinner," Loki said, "because I was trying to make the case that our suite here should qualify as our private residence for the duration of our visit." 

And the cuffs could be removed in a private residence. "And?"

Loki didn't reply, at least not verbally. Instead, he took Tony's hand, lifting it up from the bed and gently pulling the cuff off of Tony's wrist. He put it on the bedside table and repeated the process with the other cuff. "You'll have to put them on before you leave our quarters," he said, "but you don't have to wear them in here."

"Better hope you don't need to 'control your mortal,' then," Tony muttered. "And no, I know, you didn't really want to do it, you don't have to make excuses." Then he frowned. "Why didn't you want to do it?"

"What do you mean?" Loki asked. "Isn't it obvious why I wouldn't want to do that to you?"

"Not really, no," Tony said. "Look, I get that things are different now. We're not enemies. You're not going to use the cuffs to harm me. But it's not like you've had a problem with using mind-control on people before." 

Loki had still been holding the second cuff; he turned away now to set it down, which meant that Tony couldn't see his face when he said, "I thought you said you wanted to leave all that in the past." 

"I did. And I still mean that." Tony leaned over, reaching past Loki to get his cup; his mouth felt dry. The tea was completely cold now, but it was actually better that way than lukewarm. Anyway, it gave him something to do while he figured out what to say next. "This isn't me throwing that back in your face. It's just a question. You didn't have a problem mind-whammying Clint. You didn't have a problem trying to do it to me. I know you said that was what you needed to do at the time, but you needed to do it today, too. What makes now different?"

"That wasn't my choice," Loki said. "You know I wasn't working on my own, and that particular tactic was one I was..." There was a pause, and Tony found himself wishing he could see Loki's face right now. "I was _encouraged_ to use it. It was thought to be more efficient than persuasion, and perhaps it was. But using my magic to compel people to do my bidding has never been my way. Don't mistake me--I'll happily use it to deceive them, to convince them to see things my way. But mind control is so unsubtle." 

Tony laughed in spite of himself. "Your armor includes a helmet with giant golden horns," he said. "I don't think you have a right to call anyone unsubtle." 

"Imagery is powerful," Loki said. "But the point is that my specialty is mischief. Lies and half-truths. Misdirection. Illusion. I leave brute force to Thor." 

All right, that made sense. Sort of. "So that's it?"

"It's all the explanation you're going to get tonight," Loki said. "We do, unfortunately, still have an obligation to fulfill." 

"Unfortunately?" Tony echoed. Well, that was a nice jolt of reality. 

"I imagine that it's the last thing you want, after what happened today." 

"Yeah. That's why I'm naked in your bed," Tony pointed out. "Okay, given the choice, I'd probably opt to just go to sleep tonight." He still felt a little queasy, though being able to remove the cuffs had made him feel a great deal better. "But we don't have the choice--they might let things slide for one night because we're ignorant offworlders, but not _tonight_. Not when they're going to be checking to make sure you're doing your part to keep me subdued."

He pushed the blankets off himself, just in case Loki hadn't _noticed_ that Tony was naked in his bed. "And the fact that I came in here, instead of going to my own room, ought to tell you that I'd already accepted that particular bit of reality." 

"I suppose you make a good point," Loki said. 

"There's no point in calling the whole thing off," Tony said. "The time to do that would have been this morning. Or the day we landed. Not now." 

"I already told you that you made a good point. You don't need to keep trying to convince me." He leaned over, kissing Tony, more gently than Tony remembered at any point over the past few days. "I'll try to make it as pleasant as possible." 

"It's been pleasant both times," Tony said. "It's fine, Loki, let's just--"

Loki kissed him again, silencing him. "You talk far too much, Stark." 

But at least Loki seemed to take him at his word, no longer seeming apologetic about what they were about to do. He just kept kissing Tony, running his hands over Tony's skin. 

Tony wasn't sure what to think of that. Maybe he ought to want Loki to be more businesslike about this, especially tonight, when they'd been so clearly reminded of the reason behind it. But the thing was, he didn't. With Loki touching him like that, Tony could let himself forget all that reasoning and just pretend that they were here because they wanted to be. 

He was starting to think that he really did want to be. Not just noticing that Loki was, by most people's standards, quite attractive, at least when he wasn't rocking the "deranged megalomaniac" look; not just making the best of a bad situation. But that was a thought for another day--maybe tomorrow, maybe not until they were off this godforsaken planet. For right now, it was enough that they could pretend for the night. 

Loki was certainly making it easy enough; he'd moved on from kissing Tony's mouth to kissing along his jaw and down his throat, still caressing Tony's back, his sides, his chest. 

"Come on," Tony said, "it's not fair that I'm naked and you're still fully dressed."

Loki lifted his head from where he'd been kissing Tony's collarbone. "I'm not fully dressed," he said. "I'm not wearing shoes." 

Tony laughed again. "How many times did Thor punch you as a kid for being so pedantic?" 

Loki smiled. "About a quarter of the times he tried to," he said. "I'm difficult to catch." And before Tony could say anything, Loki vanished, replaced by a small brown bird that took flight, swooping around the room in a circle before landing on the bed again and then turning back into Loki. 

Tony grinned. "That's actually pretty cool." He knew Loki could shape-shift, of course, but it wasn't something he'd had much chance to see. He'd asked for a demonstration a couple of times, in fact, and Loki had simply snorted and said that he wasn't there to keep Tony entertained. 

"Your opinion does mean so much to me," Loki scoffed. But he began undoing the fastenings of his shirt, which was what Tony had wanted in the first place, so Tony decided to let it go. He just lay back, propped up on one elbow, watching Loki undress. 

Loki grinned. "I take it you like what you see?"

"Fishing for compliments?" Tony smiled back at him. "Pretty sure you've figured out already that I do." 

"You're not all that skilled at subtlety yourself," Loki said, folding his clothes over the back of the chair in the corner and coming to sit next to Tony on the bed. 

"I'm not even trying to be subtle." Tony slid closer, tugging at Loki's arm until Loki lay down next to him. 

"You aren't succeeding, whether or not you were trying." Loki kissed him, nibbling lightly at Tony's lower lip. Tony reached for him, but Loki put his hand over Tony's. "Just let me do this." 

Tony nodded. It seemed really weird to be thinking this in any context whatsoever, but he trusted Loki--at least, he trusted Loki here, in this room, in bed with him. He'd trusted Loki with the cuffs, too, he reminded himself, even back there in the meeting today. 

So it seemed perfectly natural to just settle back and let Loki do whatever he wanted. Especially since it seemed like what Loki wanted was to kiss Tony, to stroke his skin, his touches light and gentle. It was... all right, no, "comforting" was a step too far. He couldn't think of Loki that way. But it was reassuring, at least a little. 

"Turn over," Loki suggested, not having to choose his words precisely to avoid triggering the cuffs. 

Tony shook his head. "I'd rather be able to look at you."

"I'm not going to fuck you yet, Stark," Loki said. "You can turn onto your back when the time comes. I certainly won't object." 

"All right, then." Tony turned over, pillowing his head on his folded arms, turned so that he could see Loki. 

Loki turned his attention to Tony's back, running his hands over the skin. His touches weren't firm enough for it to be a massage, but it was still relaxing; Tony could feel the last of the knots in his stomach dissolving. 

This was going to be all right. Tony would keep his temper from now on, and they'd wrap up the negotiations as soon as they could, and within a few days they'd be back on the ship. It'd be just fine. Nothing like what happened this afternoon would ever have to happen again. Nothing worse would happen at all. 

He wanted to ask Loki why he was doing this--was it an apology? Concern after what had happened earlier today? Something else? It didn't much matter, Tony reminded himself; Loki wasn't likely to give him a straightforward or honest answer. He couldn't imagine asking Loki in the first place.

And Tony didn't need to know the answer in order to appreciate strong hands kneading the muscles of his ass, fingers--slightly rough and callused, though no more than Tony's own were--sliding over his skin. 

Tony closed his eyes after a few moments, just basking in the sensations. Who'd have thought that Loki would be this... kind? Gentle? Whatever this was, it was completely unexpected. 

He could feel Loki's weight shifting on the bed, and wasn't surprised when, a few moments later, he felt his cheeks being spread apart. "I thought you said you weren't ready to fuck me." 

"I'm not," Loki said. "But I am ready for this." He pressed a cool, slick fingertip against Tony's hole, and Tony couldn't stop himself from tensing a little. "Though perhaps you're not?"

"No," Tony said. "I mean, yes, I am, this is good." He took a few deep breaths, making himself relax. "You can do what you want."

"That's a dangerous statement."

"I trust you."

"Even more dangerous." 

Tony opened his eyes again, twisting slightly so that he could see at Loki. "Haven't you heard? Taking stupid risks is what I'm all about." He squirmed a little on the bed, trying to urge Loki on. 

"I'm well aware of that, Stark." Loki pressed in a little further. "And I suppose there's no reason why I should try to make you break the habit of a lifetime." 

Tony squirmed a bit more, groaning. "No reason at all. Just keep going." 

Loki did, though he certainly seemed determined to take his time. Tony wasn't sure if he was hesitant or if he was just hell-bent on driving Tony insane, but the latter was obviously going to be happening regardless of his intent. 

And Tony decided that if Loki was going to be working that hard on making him lose his mind, he ought to show his appreciation for it. He let himself squirm and writhe under Loki's touches, groaning loudly when Loki breached him with another finger. "Come on, _harder._ " 

"I don't think so," was the reply. "I think I'm going to keep you like this for a while." 

" _Loki_." 

" _Stark_ ," Loki mimicked him, twisting his fingers inside Tony, until Tony cried out and ground down against the mattress, desperate for friction. "Is there something you want to say?" 

"Go to hell?" Tony attempted, grinning when Loki began to laugh. 

"That's not going to get you what you want. And before you tell me I don't know what you want, let me remind you of just one word: unsubtle." 

"I've never thought you were stupid," he said. "But maybe what I want is for you to keep doing this?" Because really, he did. It had been such a long time since somebody had taken him apart like this, and he was perfectly willing to let it happen. 

"Then it's your lucky day," Loki said, and worked his fingers in more deeply, slowly fucking Tony open with them. 

Their rooms were kept relatively warm, but Tony was starting to feel a little chilled as sweat evaporated from his skin. He could hear his breathing, loud and ragged in the quiet room. Loki hadn't bothered with the music, he realized, but then, why should he? They weren't talking about the negotiations. They were barely talking about anything at all, and if the Ghalusians who were reviewing the tapes wanted to listen to him bickering with Loki--almost like Loki thought he was an equal, or at least a fully sentient being, not a mindless animal, he thought sarcastically, wondering what they would make of that--they were welcome to. 

And if they really wanted to hear what Tony sounded like while being slowly and thoroughly driven out of his mind with lust, well, right at this particular moment, Tony's only regret was that they hadn't sold tickets, though his opinion would probably change when more of his brain came back online. 

By the time Loki had worked his way up to three fingers, Tony was trying not to whimper as he pushed back against them, desperate for more. He was up on his knees now, trying to make it easier for Loki to keep fucking him, but that also meant he wasn't getting any more friction. "Loki," he repeated, expecting Loki to mock him again but having trouble expressing any more complicated thought. 

"Yes? Did you want something?" Loki sounded cool and disinterested, but Tony thought he heard an edge in his voice, something that spoke of control beginning to unravel. 

"Please," Tony managed. "You're going to kill me if you don't fuck me right now." 

Loki chuckled. "And I thought I had a flair for the dramatic." But there was Loki's weight shifting again, and the feeling of fingers being slowly withdrawn from his body, so it looked like Tony was about to get what he wanted, after all. 

Without that stimulation, it was a lot easier to get his thoughts together, too. "'Flair' doesn't begin to encompass how damn dramatic you are, but I'm definitely not complaining right now." 

"Not before you get what you want, anyway?" 

"Exactly." Tony let Loki pull him over to lie on his back. "And if you do a really good job of giving me what I want, then maybe I won't complain at all." 

"That seems unlikely," Loki said, as he leaned down to kiss Tony, moving into position between Tony's legs. 

"It does," Tony agreed, "but I was hoping to inspire you to greater effort." 

"I meant you not complaining." 

"I know what you meant, but I-- _oh_ ," Tony gasped, as Loki entered him. 

This wasn't like either of the previous two nights. Even last night, when they'd agreed that there was nothing wrong with enjoying themselves, there'd still been a sense of hurry, a desire to get it over with. Tonight, it was slow; Loki kept his thrusts shallow, giving Tony just enough to bring him close to the edge, but never over it. And the whole time, they both kept touching one another, kissing each other--not talking, nothing beyond the occasional gasp and moan. There didn't seem like there was anything to say, and besides, Tony would be damned if he made the mistake of saying " _God_ " again and feeding Loki's immense ego. 

Tony finally couldn't take it any more; he was rising up to meet Loki's thrusts, wrapping his legs around Loki's waist to try to pull him deeper. He looked up at Loki, seeing the faint sheen of sweat on his pale skin, the way his teeth sank into his lower lip as he tried to maintain control, and had to fight his own urge to grin. He knew how to get what he wanted. 

"Please, Loki," he whined. "For fuck's sake, give it to me." 

"Be careful what you wish for," Loki murmured, picking up the pace; he pulled out of Tony and then snapped his hips, thrusting deeper in. 

Now, that was more like it. Tony arched his back, craving more, and Loki didn't disappoint him, fucking him relentlessly. Tony wrapped his hand around his aching cock, keeping his strokes in time with Loki's thrusts, until he felt Loki stiffen and thrust into him, deeply, one last time. 

Then Tony's movements grew frantic, his hips rising off the bed as he fucked into his own fist, until he came over his hand and his stomach. 

" _Are_ you all right, Stark?" Loki asked quietly a few minutes later, when they were lying side by side on the bed, still breathing a little heavily. 

"Still angry as hell," he admitted. "But I'm okay. Thanks for not doubling down on the humiliation. I mean, Harilon may never forgive you for that, I think he was looking forward to seeing me beg forgiveness on my knees, but I'm actually good with cock-blocking him." 

"If I humiliate you at any point," Loki said, "it will _not_ be because someone else wants me to." 

"You know, I actually believe that?" He definitely wouldn't bet--at least, not anything very valuable--on Loki never wanting to humiliate him. But on not doing it on someone else's instructions? Loki was terrible at taking orders, worse than Tony. 

And apparently, that was enough for Tony. 

Apparently, _this_ was enough for Tony. 

And maybe it was enough for Loki, too, because after a minute, he said, "This bed is more than twice as large as the one in the other room." 

"I'd noticed," Tony said dryly. 

"What I meant was that if you chose to sleep here, you'd have more room." 

"I'd also be sharing a bed with you." Wait, that sounded bad. "I mean, you had considered that, right?"

"I had," he agreed. "Are you staying?"

Tony didn't say anything, only stretched out, sprawling so that he took up more than half the bed, and then grinning when Loki shoved him back onto his side of the bed. 

"I suspect I'll regret this," Loki said, but he didn't look all that concerned.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next time:** Tony and Loki get some time alone.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The negotiations wrap up, and Tony and Loki get some time alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's still reading!

****

Tony's outburst of the day before might have had one positive outcome: the morning's negotiations had been nearly free of stalling tactics. In fact, they'd gone remarkably well, and before the usual time for the lunch break, Minister Jarmenil and Loki had officially agreed to the terms they'd been hashing out. 

"The final agreement will be drawn up this afternoon," Jarmenil said. "I'll have a copy sent to your quarters, and we'll formally sign it before the evening meal, if that is acceptable?" 

"And when will the initial shipment be available?" Loki asked. 

"When will you be prepared to perform the agreed-upon spellwork?" Tony only knew the broad outline of what Loki would be doing for them: a brand-new spell that had something to do with clean drinking water, and two things that needed repair, because apparently magic spells had a maintenance schedule. Loki had agreed that those would be done before he and Tony left Ghalus, as the first installment of Asgard's payment. 

"I can begin this afternoon," he said, "though if the documents won't be signed until tonight, perhaps it would be better to wait until the morning. My estimate is that it will take me two days to complete the spells. Will that do?" 

"Perfectly acceptable," she said. "We will have the initial shipment of ore and the components you've asked for ready for inspection tomorrow as well, then. I believe you've said your bondservant is to be in charge of the inspection?"

"My _associate_ will, yes," Loki said, without changing the smoothly polite tone of his voice. 

"Then he can perform the inspection while you work. You can contact your ship and tell them you'll be ready to leave in three days' time." 

Tony found himself hoping that they could leave a little earlier than that. He knew that Loki hadn't meant forty-eight full hours of work; they'd talked that out over breakfast. Loki had left in plenty of time for unexpected delays, and also allowed for plenty of rest time; that much intense spell-casting could be draining otherwise, he'd said. 

So if Loki finished during the afternoon or early evening, they could still leave late the day after tomorrow, if the ship had landed. It might not be the politest thing to do--it was likely that Jarmenil would be planning one last official dinner, especially if there was a chance Thor might be in attendance--but Tony really didn't give a damn. They didn't expect a lot of politeness from someone like him, anyway. 

"That will suit us quite well," Loki said. "I'm sure Thor will be eager for us to be on our way to take this shipment to our people." 

Yeah, that did sound like Loki wanted to leave Ghalus as much as Tony did. 

There was a little more polite conversation--none involving Tony, of course; it had been obvious this morning that no one but Loki intended to give him permission to speak if it could be avoided--and then most of the representatives from other ministries started drifting out of the conference room. 

"Perhaps you would like a tour of the city this afternoon, Prince Loki? I can arrange for a guide for you and your--" she hesitated, but only slightly-- "associate." 

"That won't be necessary," Loki said. "We'd prefer to visit your city without a guide." He didn't mention that they'd already done that, for an hour or two, yesterday.

"It's a question of safety," she said, her eyes flickering to Tony for a moment. 

Oh, that sounded good, didn't it? A representative of a foreign government--the ruler's only brother--walking around your city? Of course you needed a guide-slash-bodyguard. And if only she hadn't looked at Tony for that split second, Tony wouldn't have questioned it. 

"I assure you, I'm quite capable of protecting both myself and Stark," Loki said, so evenly that Tony wasn't quite sure Loki had picked up on the subtext: that it was protecting people _from_ Tony that she had in mind. "And I'd prefer to explore your lovely city without a guide." 

If Tony didn't loathe Jarmenil so much, he'd have sympathized with that exasperated sigh she gave at that; he recognized the sound of someone whose last nerve Loki had just stepped on. "Very well, Prince Loki. I would remind you that you're still responsible for your colleague's behavior until you leave the planet, however." 

Loki nodded curtly. "Yes, you've made that perfectly clear, Minister." 

Tony hadn't realized that you could sweep from a room without a skirt or a cloak or _something_ of that nature, but Loki managed it. Yep, definitely the most dramatic person Tony knew (and that was saying a lot). "Are you coming, Stark?" he said from the doorway, and Tony got up to follow him. 

In the hallway, Loki said, "If this is like any city I have ever been to, there'll be some sort of food vendors in the commercial district. I'd rather not eat in our quarters today, if that suits you?"

"Alien street food?" Tony said. "Sounds like a plan. What do you have to do to contact the ship?" 

"Offworld messages will have to go through the Minister's communications office; I can put in the request through the computer network," Loki said. "I'd like to do it as soon as possible; the quicker we're off this planet--or at least have the option of leaving--the happier I'll be." 

"Yeah. So let's do that. I want to change, anyway." The sun was beating down outside, from what Tony could see through the windows lining the long corridors, and if they were going to amble around the city for a while, Tony wanted to be wearing something cooler. 

They separated when they returned to their quarters; Tony went to his room to change into a more comfortable outfit--jeans and a shirt, as opposed to the more formal jacket and slacks he'd been wearing to the negotiations. Not that the Ghalusians had any idea what was formal and what was casual dress on Earth; he could have gone in wearing his pajamas and they'd have had no idea that wasn't black tie. 

When he came out, Loki was just emerging from the other bedroom. He was still dressed more formally--or at least with more layers--than what he generally wore on the ship, but he'd lost some of the layers he'd been wearing earlier. 

"Can't you just magic your clothes into whatever you want to wear?" Tony asked. 

"Of course I can," Loki said. "And when I don't have access to suitable clothing, that's what I do. But I did bring spare clothing with me, and it's simpler to change than to transform my outfit." 

"Magic isn't the easy way?" 

"Magic takes skill and effort," Loki said. "And it's much easier to take an existing piece of clothing, transform it until it is precisely what I want, and then leave it that way. That way I don't have to remember all the details of my favorite shirt in order to change it back. My armor is an obvious exception; I think you understand the value of having it available to me in an instant."

Huh. That made sense, and it did match up with what he'd observed of Loki over the past few months. He was never reluctant to use his magic if it was needed, or obviously if he were seized by a whim, but there were a lot of things he did the normal, boring way. 

"And now, " Loki said, "to send that message to the ship." He sat down at the desk and logged into the network. "Hm," he said, "we have the option of having the message sent on a priority channel because this is a government terminal. I certainly don't mind if Minister Jarmenil has to pay for that."

"Not if it can get the ship here faster," Tony said. "Will it?"

"Well, a lot depends on how quickly the Valkyrie can set off for Ghalus, but the priority message will reach the ship at least half a day sooner than a normal subspace transmission. I'm suggesting that they try to get here in two days' time, rather than three, so that we can leave as soon as we're done here." 

Loki finished sending the message and then stood up. "That will be sent out in the next data burst. It'll still be some hours before we have the final contracts to read over, and we won't hear back from the ship until tomorrow morning, I'm sure." 

"So now we go out and play tourist?" 

"I plan to. If you don't want to go out there--"

"No, I'm sick of being cooped up." Then something occurred to him. "I should probably put on a jacket, though. It'll be hot, but..." He held up his hands. "We look like offworlders, but I don't think anyone can tell just from a quick glance that I'm a mortal...unless they see these." 

"There's always magic," Loki said. 

"I thought changing clothes was easier?" 

"I'm not going to transform your clothing," Loki said. "You don't want to wear anything too hot, but you want to hide the cuffs from view." He held up his hands for a moment, and when Tony looked down, his shirt shimmered and seemed to acquire a jacket over it, the sleeves long enough to hide the cuffs from view when his hands were at his sides. 

"It's a visual illusion only," Loki said. "If someone touches your arm, they're going to feel your skin, not a sleeve. For it to feel real, it would have to be almost as warm as a real jacket."

"I don't anticipate a lot of people touching me out there," Tony said. "At least, not so they'd notice that. When you bump into someone on the sidewalk, you don't pay any attention to details." 

"And," Loki said, "the visual illusion still holds." He took a few steps closer to Tony, putting his hand on Tony's arm. It didn't disappear into the illusory sleeve, but seemed to rest on it just as it would if Tony had still been wearing a jacket. 

"That's convenient," he said. 

Loki inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment. "Not as powerful as a transformation, but simpler, and in this case more effective. Quite useful if you want to blend in with a crowd and haven't obtained the appropriate clothing, as well." 

Tony frowned. "Couldn't you just put an illusion on the cuffs so they'd disappear?" 

"I could," Loki said, "but any attempt to affect the cuffs with magic would undoubtedly set off some kind of alarm." 

"Imaginary jacket it is." Tony looked down at himself again, realizing that Loki had duplicated a jacket he wore frequently, though he hadn't brought it to Ghalus. He must have worn it more often than he thought, if Loki remembered it this clearly. Well, it wasn't like he had an extensive wardrobe on the ship; he was bound to wear it a lot. 

"Let's get out of here," he suggested, and was glad when Loki agreed. 

Even though Loki had refused a guide, one was waiting for them in the front hall when they got there: a young Ghalusian man who had the look of a security guard trying hard to _not_ look like one. He wasn't wearing the uniform of the Ministry security people; in fact, he was wearing rough trousers and a high-necked shirt. Tony would be willing to bet that was standard Ghalusian casual wear, the equivalent of jeans and a t-shirt on Earth. But he had an earpiece in one ear, and he was sitting very upright on a hard bench, keeping an alert eye on his surroundings. 

"Prince Loki," he said, getting to his feet. "I'm Korden. The Minister has asked me to accompany--"

"No, thank you," Loki interrupted him. "I've already told the Minister that we don't want a guide. _Or_ a guard." 

Korden gave a quick glance at Tony, and Tony just shrugged, trying to look harmless. Without his suit, he _was_ essentially harmless. He could still punch somebody, or find something to hit them over the head with, but if they were anything like Asgardians, the best he'd be able to accomplish would be to buy himself enough time to run.

"If you're certain," he said, doubtfully. 

"We're certain," Tony said. Korden ignored him, of course.

"And if the Minister has any questions, I'll make certain to mention that you did your best to get us to see reason," Loki said. 

That, Korden was willing to acknowledge. "Thank you, Your Highness," he said. "You understand, I have my instructions."

"If those instructions include following us," Loki said, "I suggest you think twice before obeying them."

They left the building then, stopping at the foot of the steps to get their bearings. "There wasn't much down to the left," Tony reminded Loki. They'd gone that way yesterday, and while it was a pleasant enough walk, they'd found only residential neighborhoods, with an occasional discreet sign indicating a small business, probably being run out of a spare bedroom or a shed in the back. 

"The right, then," Loki agreed, and they set off down the street. 

"You know that guy's probably going to be following us," Tony said. 

"From a discreet distance, yes," Loki agreed. "Which is preferable to having him walk with us, listening to everything we say." 

"Is there anything left for us to talk about?" 

"I'm still a little concerned about the delays to the negotiations." They reached an intersection; Loki scanned the cross street in both directions. "Straight ahead looks the most promising, I think." 

"Me too, but unless you have an idea of what's going on, I don't have much to say. It could just be some of the Ghalusians trying to put a stop to the negotiations. I don't know enough about the internal politics." 

"You're probably right. And since the negotiations are complete, I don't suppose it really matters."

They walked in silence for a while. The difference in the sunlight here lent everything a reddish tint, Tony noticed, though it wasn't always just the light; a lot of the plants they passed--shrubbery lining the edges of a private yard, trees planted between the sidewalk and the road, grass growing up through the cracks in the pavement--had a reddish cast around the edges of their leaves, as well. 

The houses got smaller as they walked, then gave way to larger buildings that looked like apartment buildings. They were nearly all built out of the same light-brown bricks, but the bigger houses were adorned with ornate designs carved into the stone, patterns resembling the ones used to decorate their suite at the Minister's residence. 

Tony wondered if at some point, maybe, they could spend a few weeks on a less obnoxious planet. As much as he hated this place, he did like the idea of spending time on an alien world, getting familiar with the people, the culture. It seemed kind of a waste to spend six months or more in space and mostly see the engine room on their ship. Not that tinkering with and taking notes on the ship's systems wasn't exactly what Tony wanted to do most of the time, but he could get behind a little space tourism. 

There was more traffic on the street now, a combination of low-flying vehicles that Tony thought of as "hovercars" and that seemed to be required to stick to the paths of the roads even if they never touched down, and larger vehicles that ran on treads rather than wheels. They were still walking past apartment buildings, but they were mixed with shops now, and the ratio was steadily tipping in favor of retail. 

And, up ahead, Tony saw what looked very much like a food cart. "Come on," he said to Loki, "I'm hungry, so you must be starving." Loki might not have been an Asgardian biologically, but he had a metabolism like his adopted brother's. Then Tony realized something. "Do you have any money?"

"From what I understand, they should accept a standard credit chip." 

"Convenient," Tony said. And it really was--most planets still had their own currency along with the near-universal "units," but chips worked the same way credit cards did on Earth; you didn't have to worry about exchanging money. He'd just been thinking of Ghalus as a backward planet thanks to their attitude toward humans, so he somehow had assumed they wouldn't be up-to-date with galactic economics. 

Neither of them had any idea what the food cart was selling--it smelled good, but all Tony could come up with as a description was "various chunks of things, in an orange sauce, stuffed into bread."

"I eat street-cart hot dogs back home," Tony said in response to Loki's questioning look. "This'll be fine." 

Once they'd acquired food, they slowed their walking pace, ambling around like the tourists he supposed they were. Tony'd been right about covering the cuffs; they were both obviously not Ghalusian, but they only attracted minimal attention; the city was big enough and this area was close enough to the major spaceport that offworlders weren't all that rare. And Tony had been able to order his own lunch without having to have Loki repeat what he'd just said. 

"This could almost be a nice planet," Tony said in between mouthfuls, "you know, except for that one thing." 

Loki nodded. "I was just thinking something similar. Though it's also too hot for my tastes, at least in this region, and at this time of year." 

"Yeah, I'm glad I'm not really wearing this jacket; it's pretty warm." They were strolling through a park now; there were a few kids playing some kind of ballgame, and people walking their pets. Tony had noticed two kinds of pet animals here, or at least, two that people walked on leashes. One looked a lot like a gopher and acted a lot like a dog, chasing balls and squeaking excitedly for attention. The other resembled a fox more than anything else, and seemed to have originated as a hunting animal, if the way the owners had to restrain them from chasing birds, insects, and each other was any indication. 

It all seemed so damned normal that it was hard to remember that to these people, Tony wasn't even human. Or, well, he was human, obviously, but humans didn't count as people. 

His conversation with Loki was getting almost painfully stilted; they talked about the heat, about the antics of the gopher-dogs, about their meal, about the occasional sightings of the guard who had, as they'd expected, followed them, though he was at least keeping his distance. Probably insisting that it was for their safety, and not because his boss was afraid of what an uncontrolled mortal might do. 

Finally, Tony had had enough of small talk. "There's one thing that I haven't hated about this planet," he said as they stopped next to a small pond to watch a flock of bright blue birds paddle about on the water. 

"The lack of coffee?" 

"Blasphemer," Tony said. "And you know what I'm talking about. This. Getting to know you better. Or differently, anyway. Not really the way I wanted that to happen, but I'll take whatever silver lining I can find." 

And it wasn't a bad silver lining. Loki had been _kind_ last night. Had done his best yesterday afternoon to minimize Tony's humiliation. Had kept insisting, however futilely, that Tony wasn't just a savage. 

Even though Tony had learned to like Loki's company before this, he hadn't expected any of that, and he couldn't regret that they knew one another better now. 

He couldn't actually regret the sex, either. 

"I can see how that would be a benefit for you," Loki said. "I'm a good deal more interesting than most of the people you know." But he shifted slightly, so that he was standing a little closer to Tony; still not close enough to touch, but definitely encroaching on Tony's personal space in a way that Tony wouldn't have tolerated from most people. 

"You're a good deal more _annoying_ than--no, you're really not," Tony decided. "But only because I know some incredibly irritating people. And you're still slightly more annoying than most of the people I know." 

Loki laughed at that, and threw the last bits of his lunch into the pond for the birds, who scrambled to get at it. 

"I don't think bread is supposed to be good for ducks," Tony said. 

"Ducks are Earth birds. These aren't ducks." He plucked the remnants of Tony's lunch from his hand and threw that after his own. 

"Hey, I was still eating that!" Tony protested, although there'd only been some sauce-soaked bread left in the wrapping. 

"And now they are," Loki said, nodding toward two birds squabbling over Tony's leftovers. 

"What was that about? 'Slightly more annoying' isn't good enough for you, is that it?" 

"I've never been satisfied with mediocrity," Loki acknowledged. 

"Okay, fine, you are absolutely the most annoying person I've ever met; does that make you happy?" Tony said, grinning at him. 

Loki shook his head. "Now you're just lying to flatter me," he said. "There's no way I'm more annoying than Thor." 

"I don't know. Thor didn't just steal my lunch." He crumpled the wrapping into a ball. "Let's get out of here. It's getting too crowded." 

The park was filling up with children; school must have let out for the afternoon, or maybe a local school just used the park as a playground. Either way, they were starting to attract attention from the kids because they were obviously not Ghalusians, and for once, Tony felt like _not_ being the center of attention. 

Even with the illusory jacket, he worried that it was still possible that someone might get a glimpse of his cuffs somehow, and given the local fears about mortals and their propensity for violence, people might panic to think that Tony was that close to their children. 

They started walking, neither of them seeming to have any goal other than to get out of the park. Once they were on the street again, Loki said, "Are you ready to go back to our rooms, or did you just get tired of watching the birds?"

"Neither. Too many kids. I don't want to freak people out if they realize I'm a mortal." 

"You're not beginning to believe their ignorant nonsense?" 

"Of course not," Tony said. "But there are a bunch of kids around, and it's not their fault their entire planet is fucked up. I don't want to scare them if they think I'm the boogeyman or something." 

"This way, then?" Loki suggested. "I think this road curves around the pond, in case you want to make sure I haven't poisoned those birds with our lunch." 

"Sure, why not." Ordinarily, Tony might have wanted to look through some of the shops--he'd picked up a couple of souvenirs on their other stops, little things for Pepper and Rhodey and even one for Peter--but he couldn't imagine handing over a present and saying, "I got this for you on this planet where Loki was required to fuck me into good behavior." (Okay, if he was drunk enough, he could totally see himself saying that to Rhodey, just to see the look on his face.) 

In the absence of any other plans, Tony wasn't going to object to just wandering around with Loki. "With Loki" was becoming the important part, after all. 

And maybe "with Tony" was starting to be important to Loki, because he didn't really picture Loki as the sightseeing type. But they watched the (un-poisoned) ducks (if it swam like a duck and... okay, it honked more like a goose, but damn it, birds paddling around on a pond were ducks in Tony's brain) for a while, and then wandered through a temporary open-air market; the road was blocked off to traffic and several people had set up tables with vegetables and other items for sale. 

"That stall smells like that pink stuff you like drinking," Tony said, as they passed a table where an elderly Ghalusian man was selling bags of dried herbs. He had a pot of tea brewed and small cups set out for people to sample the product. "Do you want some? To take back to the ship, I mean."

"No," Loki said quickly. "It's good, but I don't think I want to bring any souvenirs of Ghalus back with me." 

"Yeah, I regretted suggesting that the minute I said it. I don't really want to smell that tea again after we leave here." Which might imply that Tony thought he'd be spending time in Loki's quarters in the future, but so be it. 

"Then I'm glad I decided against buying any," Loki said, which, in Tony's opinion, was as near as an admission that he wasn't the only one who'd had thoughts about this continuing after they left Ghalus as he was likely to get.

****

Loki had Tony read the final trade agreement when a copy was brought for their inspection. He pretended to be completely uninterested in the paperwork, at least while the Ghalusian functionary was present, but even though he wanted Tony to study it carefully, Tony noticed that once they were alone, Loki picked it up and glanced through it as well. "It seems all right," he said, "but you're more experienced with this sort of contract, so I'd like to be certain." 

Tony settled down in his chair and started to read. It took him a little while to get through it; he was a fast reader, but it didn't pay to skim past some of the dense official language. Finally he set the contracts aside. "It looks good," he said. "No surprises sneaked into the middle of a paragraph that looks like boilerplate, or anything."

"All right, then. We'll sign it without argument."

"We?" Tony said. "Never mind what the Ghalusians think about me, I'm not even the representative of the Asgardian government." 

"I want you to witness it," Loki said. 

"That's going to annoy our host."

Loki's answering grin was bright and sharp. "Oh, I'm counting on that." 

Tony laughed. "I'm the one who's supposed to be holding the grudge against the Ghalusians, aren't I?" 

"I don't care for them," Loki said, which was an understatement if Tony had ever heard one. "If I hadn't come here as Thor's representative, I would be making my opinion a great deal more obvious." 

Tony wondered if Thor knew how seriously Loki was taking the responsibility Thor was giving him. Of course he did, he realized; Thor had always been the one person who had faith in his brother. Thor had been counting on Loki to do just this. 

"I think they've got a pretty good idea, anyway," Tony said. 

"I certainly hope so. I'd hate to think I'd been too subtle for them." They walked on for a while longer, then Loki said, "I don't think anyone expects you to be present when we sign the contracts." 

"No, they probably don't," Tony said. "Especially not since I doubt that Jarmenil really wants me at dinner. She's probably expecting to send a tray up for me." 

"Is that what you want? This will probably be the last official dinner, especially if we manage to leave right after I finish my work. I'm going to claim fatigue tomorrow night, so you certainly won't be expected to turn up at dinner." 

"Try 'won't be allowed,' not without you. But yeah, I can get through dinner. You might not have noticed, but I enjoy annoying the shit out of them as much as you do." 

Loki grinned. "That's what I was hoping you'd say."

****

"Annoying" turned out to be a mild word. First there had been Minister Jarmenil's reaction when Loki had insisted that Tony had to witness the contracts. 

Her mouth set into a very tight line, she said, "That is against all custom."

"It can't possibly be," Loki argued. "You trade with mortal races. How can you enter into contracts with them if they're not allowed to sign them?"

"In the spaceport," she said. "They are not bondservants." 

"Well, Stark is the only person on this planet who has my full and complete trust--no offense meant, of course," he added, with a bland smile. "And I wish him to witness this contract." 

"Oh, very well," she said impatiently. "It is of little importance."

 _Then why the hell did you argue?_ Tony wondered in irritation, but didn't bother asking for permission to speak in order to ask her. 

Beyond that, the signing went without incident, and they made arrangements for the next morning; Tony would examine the crates that they'd be taking with them when they left, and then Loki would be shown to the room where he'd be casting the spells the Ghalusians wanted. Tony, he supposed, would be sent back to their quarters to wait, unless Loki wanted him nearby--and he couldn't imagine Loki wanting him nearby while he worked; it would be totally pointless. 

"And now, Prince Loki, if you'll come this way, I believe drinks are already being served before dinner?" She placed a hand on Loki's arm to steer him through the folding doors that led into the next room, where the guests generally assembled before the meal. 

"Stark?" Loki said, turning toward Tony. 

"We'll have a meal sent up for him. He'll be much more comfortable dining in private, won't he, after yesterday?" 

"Yes," Loki said. "Perhaps we will." 

"'We'?" she repeated. 

"That's correct. I wish Stark's company at dinner. If he isn't welcome at your table, then I'll have to dine with him in our rooms." He smiled at Tony and held out a hand--wordlessly, avoiding giving Tony a command. 

The compulsion that led Tony to step forward to take his hand had nothing to do with the cuffs around his wrists. He wasn't certain what Loki was playing at--other than doing his best to irritate their host--but it didn't matter. Loki implying that they had any kind of affection for one another would definitely get under the Ghalusians' skin; Tony had skimmed enough of those bondservant romances to know that.

Tony wasn't going to take it seriously, of course; he wasn't that stupid. Anything Loki did in front of an audience was likely to be an act. There was definitely something between them, after the past few days, but this couldn't be taken as a public acknowledgment of that. He'd have to see what Loki said and did in private, and back on the ship, before he could assume they were really on the same page.

But this was totally worth it, even if it turned out to be exclusively for show, just for the look on Minister Jarmenil's face. She pressed the button to the intercom. "There will be one more guest at dinner," she said crisply, and cut the connection before there could be a reply. 

Loki's smile held more than a hint of the cat who'd just swallowed the canary. "Thank you so much, Minister. And--since we've already disrupted your table arrangements--if you could be so kind as to seat Stark next to me? You know, so that I can be certain that his behavior doesn't offend anyone." 

"I'll see what can be done, Your Highness. And now, if you--if you both--will come through?" 

Loki kept hold of Tony's hand as they came through into the next room, and didn't let go until it was obvious that everyone had noticed the gesture. Then he let go, at least long enough to snag two glasses of wine from the tray that a servant offered him and hand one to Tony. 

"What are you playing at?" Tony asked under his breath. 

Loki only smiled at him.

"Look, I'm only asking so I can go along with it," he said, in between sips of the wine. Loki had chosen one of the drier varieties. The Ghalusian palate didn't line up with Tony's very well, but this wine wasn't bad at all. He only wished it was a little stronger; being somewhat buzzed might have made this meal more tolerable. 

"You're doing fine," Loki assured him. "You might want to act--oh, slightly besotted should do nicely. If you can't manage that, there's always acting bored and grimly tolerating my attentions until we get off-world again."

"I think I can manage 'slightly besotted,'" Tony said. He ought to be able to. It wasn't all that far from the truth. 

"Perfect," Loki said. "Another drink?" 

Tony drained the rest of his glass. It might not be very strongly alcoholic, but if he drank _enough_ of it, he'd manage that buzz. "Absolutely." 

Three glasses of wine in the short time before dinner turned out to provide at least a mild degree of intoxication, which made it almost easy to cope with the way that none of the Ghalusians seemed inclined to approach them--though there were definitely plenty of people looking at them, especially since Loki kept taking any opportunity to casually touch Tony. 

Loki, for his part, kept making intentional eye contact with any of the Ghalusians who seemed to be staring, until they backed down and looked uncomfortably away. Tony was pretty sure that it was one of the reasons why the before-dinner drinks period seemed to end pretty quickly, at least compared to his one previous experience with it. 

The Minister put her drink down on a nearby small table and clapped her hands lightly to get everyone's attention. "Shall we go through to dinner?" she suggested, and led the way through into the dining room on the arm of a short, greying Ghalusian man Loki quietly informed Tony was another of her spouses.

Loki took Tony's hand, instead of his arm, and to Tony's surprise, guided it, a trifle awkwardly, to the small of his back. "It'll shock them more this way," he murmured. 

Tony supposed it would. Any indication that Loki had given up some degree of control in the relationship to Tony would make their already scandalous behavior even worse. 

It had been a long time since Tony had really scandalized anyone. He'd been practically _responsible_ lately. 

Oh, he was going to enjoy this. 

The Minister had managed to seat the two of them together; Tony found himself near the foot of the table, with the poet--her name was Madrila, Tony had discovered when he looked up the Minister's family on the planetary network, and she was apparently an _important_ poet, not that Tony thought those were two words that should go together--on one side of him and Loki on the other. Harilon was across from him, which didn't make Tony happy at all, but that was just another excuse for him to turn his head toward Loki, especially since Madrila seemed uninterested in making conversation with either of her neighbors. 

Tony and Loki's dinner conversation wasn't nearly as exciting as they made it look; while Tony kept leaning in close to murmur into Loki's ear or hear what Loki was murmuring back, a lot of it had to do with their plans for tomorrow, or Loki's sarcastic commentary about the general dinner-table conversation, or how much he'd have enjoyed being able to turn Harilon into the toad he somewhat resembled (all right, only the way his eyes bulged slightly, but that was enough for Tony). 

Tony did place his hand on Loki's thigh once when he leaned over, and left it there when he turned his attention back to his food, but he doubted if anyone noticed that but Loki. 

Loki certainly did, though; he smiled slightly when he felt the pressure of Tony's hand, and kept smiling as the next course was served. Though that might have been partially the way that his smile seemed to be making Harilon and the man across from Loki a bit uncomfortable. And yeah, Tony thought, he'd probably be nervous too, if he thought Loki was just smiling quietly to himself for no obvious reason, even now. 

He had to take his hand away then, as the main course involved some sort of roast meat that needed a knife to cut it. 

"Would you mind skipping the after-dinner chit-chat?" Loki asked him quietly. 

"You mean the after-dinner standing around while everyone stares at us? Because you know that's what it's going to be. I mean, you're a class traitor, and I've got ideas above my station." Tony shook his head. "No, I don't mind at all." 

"Good." 

They must have been overheard, because in a supercilious tone, Harilon said, "Oh, good, Your Highness. I was afraid--given that little scene yesterday--that you were reluctant in performing your obligation to the bond." He smirked at Tony. "In fact, I was going to recommend that the bond be transferred to a native Ghalusian for the duration of your stay, since it was obviously so unpleasant for you." 

"I bet you were," Tony muttered, glad that Loki had assured him at the outset that the bond couldn't be transferred without Tony's permission. 

Loki, on the other hand, only smiled again. "Oh, nothing involving Stark could ever be an obligation," he said. "Or unpleasant. So sorry to disappoint you, but I wouldn't consider asking him to transfer his bond." 

"I wouldn't consider doing it, either," Tony said. "Loki's the only person on this planet I'd allow to touch me." He smiled at Harilon as well, or at least bared his teeth. He'd have thought that Kesta would be his least favorite person on the planet, or maybe even Jarmenil. But they were so obvious about their dislike for mortals that it felt honest, compared to Harilon's sleazy fascination that just left Tony wanting a shower. 

Perhaps it was a coincidence--she certainly hadn't seemed to be paying any attention--but Madrila broke in just then to announce, "I've just composed a new verse in honor of our noble guest from Asgard." 

Tony tried very hard not to groan in dismay. Judging from the faces of the Ghalusians at their end of the table, he wasn't the only one. 

But Loki turned to her, and in a blandly polite voice, said, "Really? May we be honored to hear it?" 

The last time Tony had wanted that badly to punch Loki, he'd just been thrown through his own window. 

Madrila began to recite her poem--"Only a rough draft, of course, the published version will be far more polished--" which was either completely unrelated to Asgard and Ghalus's relationship with it, or was so highly symbolic that it was impossible to tell _how_ it was related. There was a lot about birds, from what Tony could tell. He wasn't sure what Asgard had to do with birds. He wasn't sure what Ghalus had to do with birds, either; there wasn't even a bird on their flag. 

"I hate you for this," Tony murmured into Loki's ear. 

Loki didn't answer him; that would have spoiled the impression of rapt attention that he was giving to the poem, which was long enough to last through the end of the main course and through the serving of dessert. No wonder Madrila hadn't paid attention to any of them throughout dinner. 

Finally, she finished to polite applause, and Tony could enjoy his food again. It was some kind of pie--well, like sandwiches, Tony figured pie would be more or less universal, anywhere there was fruit and some kind of flour to make pastry from. This was made with a fruit that tasted a bit like banana, which was weird--banana cream pie was normal, but pie filled with baked bananas?--but not bad. 

And it wouldn't have mattered if it had been bad; Tony was going to eat this, get dinner over with, and get back to their quarters, where he and Loki were going to have a talk. 

Well, first sex. Then a talk. That was definitely the correct order.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this went up so late (though it's still Thursday my time). I'm in the middle of a family emergency and haven't been in the same state as my computer since yesterday morning. 
> 
> I should be able to post on time next week, but I honestly don't know anything about what my next week will look like yet. (Also, I am going to be slower at comment replies than usual--I probably won't get to those until next weekend (not this upcoming one) at the earliest. )
> 
>  
> 
>  **Next time:** So clearly they're going to conclude their business and go back to the ship, right? Yeah, because things usually go that well for them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So clearly they're going to conclude their business and go back to the ship, right? Yeah, because things usually go that well for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's been reading, leaving kudos, and/or commenting.

****

"I can't believe you made us listen to that whole poem," Tony said, for at least the third time since they'd gone back to their rooms. There had been quite a few raised eyebrows when Loki had excused them immediately after the meal, but Loki had claimed that he needed to prepare for the spells he would be casting tomorrow. That probably went over a little better than "I want to get back to my quarters and fuck my bondservant silly," even if everyone knew that the terms of the service bond meant that was likely to be more accurate.

"It meant nobody could say much of anything for the rest of the meal," Loki answered. That was a change; the last two times, his only response had been, "Can't you?" 

Maybe it helped that this time, they were both sprawled naked on the bed. "Yeah, but it was terrible."

"Maybe it sounds better if you're Ghalusian." 

"I don't think so. I mean, she's supposedly an important contemporary poet, so maybe, but I still doubt it."

"I suspect 'important contemporary poetry' is an acquired taste. I prefer the stage, myself." 

Tony almost said, "Yeah, Thor told me about that play you wrote," but decided against it. It was just going to antagonize Loki, and that wasn't what he was in the mood to do at the moment. Besides, after twenty minutes of Ghalusian poetry, Tony thought he could probably appreciate overwrought melodrama a lot more. 

"Anyway," Tony said, "I hope you don't think I brought you in here to talk about poetry." 

"If you know what's good for you, you certainly _haven't_ brought me in here to talk about poetry." Loki kissed him hungrily, licking his way into Tony's mouth until Tony moaned. 

"That's more like it," Tony said when they finally broke apart. "Much better than poetry." 

"Have you considered," Loki said, his hand sliding over Tony's chest, "that in two days, three at the most, we'll be back on the ship?" 

"Only every minute of the day." 

"I imagine you'd like to put this all behind you." 

Okay, so they were going to talk _first_. He might have known he wouldn't get to do things the sensible way around where Loki was concerned. "Most of it, yes," he agreed. "Not all of it. I wouldn't mind if this--" he waved a hand between them-- "continued when we got back, though." 

There. Clear, direct. No talking around it, no approaching the issue obliquely. Simple, straightforward communication--which wasn't exactly Loki's forte, from anything Tony could tell, so it was a good thing Tony was a lot better at it. 

Especially since Loki looked so very pleased at Tony's words. "Neither would I," Loki agreed. "I didn't expect that, but..." 

"Didn't you? I did." Tony grinned at him. "I'm irresistible. Also, it's not like I'd never looked at you before. I just didn't make a move because, you know. Close quarters, if things didn't go well it could get messy." 

"It could still get messy," Loki said. 

Tony took a chance, reaching over and touching Loki's cheek. Loki didn't push him away, which sounded like a good sign to Tony. "It probably will. It's not like I have a stellar track record." Nearly fifty years old, exactly one serious long-term relationship to his name, and that one had gone to hell. Twice. "But it's too late to worry about that now." 

"It is, isn't it." Then Loki sighed. "Thor is going to be unbearable."

"Why? He likes me well enough. I mean, he's the one who asked me to come along with you guys." 

"Because he's going to be irritatingly happy for us." He turned his head slightly. He didn't actually kiss Tony's hand--that would be far too sentimental a gesture for either of them, Tony thought, especially at this point--but his lips rested against Tony's palm. 

Tony laughed. "I think we can live with that, don't you? Besides, we don't have to tell him if you don't want, at least not right away. Aren't you supposed to be good at being sneaky?" 

"On a small ship with only three other people? Even Thor is likely to notice." 

"Are you trying to tell me you _can't_ be sneaky? I'm shocked. Oh, not that you're not as good as you think you are, but that you'd admit it." He rolled away, grinning, as Loki scowled and pounced on him. 

This might technically still be an obligation, until they left Ghalus, but right now, it felt like anything but.

****

"You might want to go ahead. It's going to take a while for me to go through all these crates." Tony didn't think the Ghalusians expected him to examine every single component, or use the scanner they'd brought from the ship to check every single chunk of ore, but right now, he was feeling just bloody-minded enough to do it.

"I'll go after you check the first few," Loki said. "I want to make sure they haven't blatantly cheated us, before I get started." They'd already both been shown the room Loki had been given for his work--on the upper floor of the "official" wing of the residence, part of the building that looked as though it was only visited by the cleaners. It met Loki's requirements perfectly: isolated, quiet, unlikely to feature any interruptions to Loki's concentration. Tony would be working down here, in a room just down the corridor from where they'd met from the negotiations. 

"It'd be a display of trust if you were willing to start on our part of the bargain before I verified theirs," Tony said. 

"Exactly." Loki grinned. "It won't give offense--it's sound logic--but it will still make it clear that Asgard may consider Ghalus a trading partner, and will until we find another source of jethracite ore, but we no longer consider them a trusted friend." 

"And you're sure Thor will back you up on this?" Tony was pretty sure. But he also knew that Thor had a lot more factors to consider these days before he risked alienating any potential allies. He had to be diplomatic and political in his decision-making, even though that wasn't something Tony was used to seeing from Thor. 

"Given Thor's fondness for mortals? I'm positive."

"Then that's what we'll do." 

Loki nodded to Minister Jarmenil that they were ready to start; there were only a few Ghalusians in the room with them: the Minister, and a couple of minor officials, in addition to the security staff that had been tasked with guarding the ore during transport. 

Jarmenil said a few words that Tony automatically tuned out, something about trade, and compromise, and the spirit of cooperation between two great and ancient cultures. Then she handed Loki a small electronic device; it looked a lot like a keyless fob for a car door, both in size, and in the fact that the only notable features on it were two small buttons, one yellow, one blue. 

It turned out that was essentially what it was. "This will deactivate the security systems on each crate," she said. "Yellow to open, blue to close." 

Loki handed the fob over to Tony. "You'll need that." 

Tony nodded and knelt down by the nearest crate of ore, pressing the yellow button on the fob. Nothing appeared to happen, but when Tony reached for the lid on the crate, it slid back automatically, revealing chunks of black rock with veins of metallic green running through it. Tony picked up the scanner and ran it over the box, studying the readout with a lot more concentration than was really necessary. 

"Average purity, nineteen point two percent," he reported to Loki. "Right on target." 

He was about to get to his feet, to go over to the other pile of crates and check out the electronics, when the door opened and two more of the ministry's security staff walked in, followed by three people--two women and a man--in dark-blue, military-looking uniforms. They didn't seem to be Ghalusian; not only were the Ghalusian security force uniforms a reddish-brown color, but the newcomers were also lacking the vertical wrinkles in their foreheads. 

"Loki of Asgard?" said one of them, a tall, sharp-featured woman who looked to be around Tony's age. 

The Minister gestured toward Loki, who stepped forward. "I am Prince Loki of Asgard." 

Tony scrambled up, coming to stand beside Loki just as the woman raised a hand and remaining two newcomers--younger than she was, obviously lower ranks--raised their weapons, pointing them at Loki. 

"Grav Bintok would like a word with you," the older woman said. That meant nothing to Tony, but from the brief flash of alarm on Loki's face, he was less confused.

"Now, really," Loki said, "that was hardly my fault, and I think it's very unreasonable of Bintok to be holding a grudge like that. It's been fifty years!" 

"And who the hell is Grav Bintok?" Tony demanded. 

"None of your concern," she said. "I am Section-Leader Aneth of the Grav's personal security force. I have already presented my credentials to your planetary security force--"

"Not my planet." 

"Then you have even less right to question my authority." 

Loki had lifted his hand; Tony saw a brief glimmer of green light before Aneth brought up her weapon and fired it directly at Loki, too quickly for either of them to react. 

To Tony's intense relief, Loki seemed unharmed, but the green glow of his magic faded out. 

"Take him," Aneth said to the others; Loki darted forward quickly, but Aneth's people and the Ghalusian security guards grabbed him, two on each side, while the security team who had been there for the ore stepped forward to flank Tony. 

"What the hell is going on?" Tony shouted. Loki had been restrained; there were cuffs around his wrists and ankles, each emitting a reddish light that reminded Tony of Loki's magic, or the purple glow of his own bond cuffs. Tony had no way of being sure, but given the way Aneth's weapon had stopped Loki from using magic, he was guessing that red light was more of the same. 

"Section Leader Aneth is quite correct," Jarmenil said. "Her employer has a valid complaint against Loki of Asgard. It is our duty to relinquish him to her custody." 

"The fuck you will," Tony snarled, but Loki shook his head. 

"Not now, Tony," he said. "You'll only end up in a cell next to me." 

Tony, he realized. Not Stark. Tony. What was that supposed to be, Loki's attempt at a touching farewell? 

Damn it, he was _not_ letting them take Loki. He wouldn't have anyway, that wasn't who he was, but he definitely wasn't going to after the last few days. 

But Jarmenil's guards were holding him back right now, and he didn't have his armor, so there wasn't much he could do. Not right now, anyway. 

All he could do was stand there and watch as Aneth and her goons marched Loki away. 

Once they were gone and the door slid closed behind them, the guards let go of Tony's arms, though they stayed close to him. 

"I appreciate that you're upset," Jarmenil said, "but--"

"This was why you delayed the negotiations. You knew they were coming for him," Tony accused her. 

She nodded slightly. "That's correct." At least she was answering his questions, Tony thought, not just sending him back to the spaceport to wait for the ship like a good little mortal. Though he was sure that was coming. 

"We had already received a message from Section Leader Aneth regarding Prince Loki when your ship made contact with us," she said. "Grav Bintok has what we judged to be a genuine grievance against him, so we informed the Section Leader of your arrival and agreed to ensure that you remained on the planet until she could arrive."

Half the damn galaxy probably had a genuine grievance against Loki. Hell, _Tony_ had a couple of genuine grievances against Loki. That didn't mean they could just march in here and take him. "You realize you've just let the heir to the throne of Asgard be taken?" 

And sure, that was probably just a technicality; Thor was difficult to kill, and still pretty young by Asgardian standards. But then, Thor didn't have any kids that Tony knew of--definitely not any that had made it to New Asgard--and didn't seem like he was planning to settle down and have any any time soon. At least for the time being, Loki was the _only_ heir to the throne of Asgard, even though Tony was pretty sure that wouldn't be an uncomplicated transfer of power. 

"How much did they pay you? And is it enough to rebuild this city after Thor blasts the whole damn thing into rubble?" Tony glared at the cuffs on his wrists. They were going to give off an alert once he was too far away from Loki, and he was about to be _much_ too far away from Loki. He only hoped that the circumstances would mean he'd just be taken back to the spaceport, not punished in some way.

"I sincerely doubt that Asgard is currently in any position to wage war on our planet." 

"Not Asgard," Tony said. "Thor. That's his _brother_ , you idiot. He's not going to worry about declaring war on you. He's just going to hit you with lightning until you give Loki back. Do you have anything that could protect you against someone as powerful as he is?" He could see the look on Jarmenil's face; she was obviously considering that there was at least a chance Tony was telling the truth. 

Tony was damn well telling the truth. Hell, if this Grav Bintok character had come to Thor and made a case for whatever it was Loki had apparently done, Thor might--probably not, but it was just possible--have handed Loki over for trial, or, more likely, attempted to make some kind of restitution. But this kind of backstabbing on the part of the Ghalusians? Thor was going to blast first and think about it later. Maybe not great behavior for a king, but Thor was new to the job. 

"The security team will be leaving the planet soon," she said. "There'll be no reason for him to attack us." 

Tony shrugged. "That's a chance you're going to have to take, isn't it? Look, you have a couple of choices here. You can take that chance, if you want. Send me back to the spaceport, though you're going to have to lock me up if you want to keep me there until the ship arrives, and then gamble on Thor being too focused on getting his brother back to deal with you. Or you can give me my armor back and let me retrieve Loki before Thor has to know anything about it." 

"Offworlders are not permitted weapons," she said, "and you--you're a _mortal_ , you can't be trusted with weaponry." 

"That's a bad choice," Tony said. "Because here's another thing. I'm going to get my armor back, and I'm going to get Loki back. But there's going to be a lot less destruction of property if I can just get the armor, now, before Aneth's ship takes off." 

Jarmenil turned to the senior of the security guards. "Escort Stark back to his quarters and see that he doesn't leave them." 

"Ma'am? Unbonded mortals aren't allowed outside of the spaceport. Surely I should--"

"But he _is_ bonded," she said. "Take him back to his quarters. I shall deal with him directly." Then, to Tony, she said, "You may still consider yourself my guest until your ship returns. Anything you need will be brought to you, but I would advise you not to try to leave." 

"Yes," Tony said, "you probably would." 

He needed time to think, to work out some sketchy outline of a plan. He wasn't a big planner, true; he usually operated by the seat of his pants, but he was also not a fan of going into a situation totally blind. And since right now he didn't even have his suit, and having his suit instantly available had made him less conscientious about bringing along the glasses that also let him connect with Friday, he was going to have to do a little thinking before he made a move. 

He definitely needed to get his suit back, though. Friday wasn't as powerful out in space where she only had the ship's databank to tap into rather than the whole of the Internet plus all of Tony's personal data servers, but he did have an access code for the Ghalusian information network, and anyway, a less-powerful Tony-Stark-built AI was still nothing to sneeze at. 

It was obvious that the security guards resented Jarmenil's orders, given that once they were out of the room, they took hold of Tony's arms and frog-marched him, rather than merely escorting him, back to the quarters he shared with Loki. Once the door slid open, they shoved him inside without a word, hard enough that Tony landed on his ass, and then closed the door behind him. 

Tony got back up and opened the door again immediately. It wasn't locked, but the guards had positioned themselves on either side of the door. They weren't going to let him go anywhere, not without a fight. 

"Make yourself at home, boys," Tony said, and closed the door again. Right. Getting past them was going to have to be the first stage of his plan. 

Then, he needed his armor. That meant getting back to the spaceport and collecting it. That part should be easy enough. It was getting back out of the secured wing of the spaceport, as a mortal, that would be a problem. 

Except. It wasn't mortals who weren't allowed out of the spaceport. It was _unbonded_ mortals, and as Jarmenil had pointed out, that didn't apply to Tony. He could move freely around the city, as long as he didn't get too far away from Loki. And he knew from his reading that the bond cuffs had a pretty long range, so as long as Loki was still in the city, he should be fine. At least from the general population, though if Jarmenil took exception to his escape, the planetary security force, which appeared to be a combination of police and military, would probably be out looking for him. It was once Aneth's ship took off that it became a problem. 

And once it took off, there was a problem anyway, because while Tony could handle space for short distances in his suit, it wasn't a substitute for an actual spaceship.

So time was of the essence, and the most pressing problem was to get out of this room. The windows in most of the rooms were too high and small for Tony to get out of, but it was possible that he might be able to make his escape through the windows in the main room. 

Tony turned to the windows, trying not to seem too obviously interested in them in case there was... yeah. There were two uniformed guards patrolling up and down the length of the small courtyard garden. Great. Fantastic. So he was going to have to fight his way out, outnumbered two to one at best, without his armor or any weaponry beyond what he could improvise. 

Well, he'd been in worse situations. It was a little disappointing to think that Tony Stark, engineering genius, might have to thump people on the back of the head with a broken-off chair leg, but if that was what it came to, he'd do it. And he was never letting anyone separate him from his armor again, diplomacy and tact be damned. If he'd had that, everything else would have been simple. 

Tony was in the middle of turning over all the furniture to see which piece would be the easiest to turn into a weapon--he also thought that he might be able to convert the power source from the wall clock into a very small, single-use taser--when the door slid open again. 

"I trust you've found that my cleaning staff haven't neglected to dust under the furniture," Minister Jarmenil said, coming through the doorway and closing it behind her. 

"It's important to stay on top of this kind of thing," Tony said. "I take it you've come to tell me I'll be transferred to the spaceport now?" That would make his life a little easier. 

"Not exactly," said the Minister. "I've come to return this to you." She held a small box out to Tony.

"Set it down over there," Tony said, finishing unscrewing the leg of an occasional table and straightening up, dusting off his hands on his pants legs before he went to look at the box. 

The lid slid open to his touch, revealing--"My armor?" Had she actually regretted handing Loki over to those goons? 

"We are not having this conversation," she replied. "I'm not returning your property to you; I haven't sent the guards in the courtyard on an errand; I am not permitting you to move freely throughout the city without your bondholder; and I have _not_ sent instructions to Flight Control that Section-Leader Aneth's ship is to be delayed due to an unspecified security alert. Do you understand me?" 

Tony was unbuttoning his shirt, snapping the nanoparticle casing back into its housing. "Perfectly," he said. "What changed your mind?" 

"My mind has not been changed," she said firmly. "But if it had been, it might be because despite your obvious resentment of our laws, you and Prince Loki conducted the negotiations honorably. It might be because Grav Bintok is a jumped-up little thug and nothing your bondholder may have done to him could be too serious. Or possibly," she admitted, "because I don't wish to see my city reduced to rubble by the Asgardians. They may not have the vast armies of old, but one Asgardian can do quite enough damage on his own." 

Two, Tony thought; Valkyrie and Loki might not be the best of friends, but she'd do what she could to get him free. And then, probably, punch him herself if she judged that whatever he'd done merited it. 

He'd already studied as much detail on the layout of the spaceport as he could find on the network--he didn't need any insight into the inner workings, so the maps intended to help travelers find their way around were enough. He had a good general idea of where Aneth's ship was likely to be, if they'd only intended to be on the planet a short while. And now that he had his armor and he was free to leave, he could go after Aneth and get Loki out of there. 

"I'm not going to thank you," he said, "because frankly, this is your fault--your people, anyway, even if you weren't the one to make the decision to hand Loki over to them--and besides, I just don't like you very much. But if I can get Loki out of there before our ship returns, I can at least say that I won't tell Thor about it until we're well away from here. I can't make any promises for Loki, of course." 

He activated the armor, feeling more at ease as it formed around him. "Friday?" 

"Here, boss," came the familiar voice. 

"Tap into the network, will you? We're going on a rescue mission, and I may need intel." He gave her the access code--she could get into the network without it, but time might be of the essence, he decided--and said, "You might want to start working on getting into the secure systems at the spaceport."

"I can arrange transport," the Minister said. "To further the interests of getting you off this planet," she added. 

"Not necessary. Do these windows open?" Tony crossed over to them, examining the frames. They looked like they ought to be French doors, opening out onto the courtyard; he just hadn't been interested enough to check them out before. 

"What? Oh, yes," she said, just as Tony found the access panel himself and the windows slid open. 

"Great," he said. "That'll save you the trouble of having to clean up the broken glass." 

He went through the window, waiting until he was in the open air--more or less, when the courtyard was enclosed on three sides--to take off.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for being so understanding about the late post last week, and about me being flakier than usual about comments. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Next time:** Iron Man to the rescue!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iron Man to the rescue!

****

Tony had expected it to be difficult for Friday to tap into the spaceport computers, given that the alien culture should have made it harder to guess passwords, but apparently information security was another thing that sucked on Ghalus. Once Tony had the list of the small spacecraft docked at the spaceport, it wasn't hard at all to make an educated guess as to which one was Aneth's.

In Tony's (admittedly limited) experience, ships that were going to be on a particular planet for a while tended to pay the higher fees to rent one of the enclosed hangars, but ships that were only landing to deposit cargo or passengers--or, in Aneth's case, to collect a prisoner--tended to choose the cheaper, outdoor landing areas. That was where Valkyrie had put them down; she'd only stayed on Ghalus long enough to get permission to take off again once he and Loki had left the ship. 

And those areas tended to have very little in the way of security. Ships were expected to provide their own guards for their cargo, and since few ships remained in the landing zones for more than a day, that was all that was needed. The spaceport's security team would intervene in the event of real trouble, but based on the schedules Friday had found in the computer system, they only mustered up an infrequent patrol through the zone unless someone called for them. 

The security patrol had just gone through in one of the hovering vehicles, a squat, boxy thing painted in bright blue, so now there was really nothing standing between him and Aneth's ship. 

There were only four crew members registered with the spaceport authorities: Aneth, the two goons she'd brought with her to arrest Loki, and a pilot, who had presumably stayed on the ship. Tony figured there might be as many as two more crew members she hadn't seen fit to mention. Probably not, but he'd rather be prepared to deal with six than to be surprised when someone jumped out and ambushed him. 

"How are you doing on finding those security codes, Friday?" Tony asked as he landed a few dozen yards away from the ship. 

"Got them, boss." 

"Who am I supposed to be, then?"

"Security Captain Adgar. Second in command of the spaceport security detail."

"Oh, good girl," Tony said. He hadn't expected her to find the ID codes for someone that high-ranking, but he certainly wasn't going to complain about it. "Okay. Transmit them to that ship. Tell them I'm going to be boarding to inspect their vessel for contraband." 

There were several seconds' silence as Tony crossed the landing area and strode up to the ship. "Well?" he said, when the ship remained stubbornly closed. 

"Aneth has requested confirmation from the headquarters of the planetary security force. I've intercepted and replied. I assumed that's what you'd want?" 

"Perfect," Tony said, as the door raised up and a ramp extended for him to enter the ship. "Once we're inside, I want you to scan everywhere you can reach. If we can pinpoint Loki's location, we can get out of here a lot faster." 

He walked up the ramp into the airlock. Once the door had sealed behind him, a light came on over the inner door, and Tony was able to open it. 

Section Leader Aneth was waiting for him on the other side and began speaking before Tony came through the doorway. "What is the meaning of this, Captain? We already provided a manifest to flight control upon arrival. This is a prisoner transport. We are carrying no--" She broke off when she saw Tony's armor. 

"Yeah, about that," Tony said, dissolving the faceplate of his armor briefly to allow Aneth to see his face. 

"You were with Loki of Asgard," she said. 

"Glad I made an impression. And I'm going to want him back. He's a real pain in the ass, but I'm used to him." He reformed the faceplate and addressed Friday. "We all powered up?"

"Not for an extended fight," she said. "You know the power reserves get drained if the nanotech casing is removed for a lengthy period of time." 

"Then let's hope it's not an extended fight." Aneth had her weapon drawn and was trying to reach a panel set into the bulkhead nearby. It looked like it could be an intercom; Tony maneuvered to keep her away from it. The longer it was before she could call for backup, the more likely it would be that Tony could do this without having to hurt anybody. 

He was uncomfortably aware that at the moment, he would be completely okay with hurting the people who had kidnapped Loki, but he wasn't going to let himself do that. Not unless he had to. 

"Low power to the repulsors, Friday," he said. "We want to knock her down, maybe even knock her out, but we don't want to kill her." 

"Repulsors on three percent power," she reported. 

Aneth tried to lunge past him to get at the intercom; Tony blasted her gun-hand, knocking the weapon away as well as partly incapacitating her. She'd been reluctant to fire in such an enclosed space, which made sense, but unlike Aneth, Tony didn't really care if her ship got damaged. 

Unfortunately, she managed to hit the call button before Tony knocked her away. 

There was a loud beep, and then a man's voice crackled over the speaker. "Section Leader?" 

Damn. Even though she hadn't been able to keep the connection open long enough to call for help, there must have been an alert when she pressed the button. Tony held his hand up in warning to Aneth, ready to blast her again if she tried anything. 

"Friday, have you found him yet?" 

"Life signs detected." Friday put a schematic of the ship on the HUD; three areas were lit up. "Besides you and your prisoner--" the lit-up area near the airlock flashed briefly-- "there are three concentrated here--" that was the brightest area, on the bridge of the ship-- "and one here." That one was on the other side of the ship, where the cargo hold was located. 

"That's got to be Loki." Tony reached down and hauled Aneth to her feet, making sure to grab her uninjured arm. 

"Do your worst," she spat at him. 

"Lady," he said, "All I want is for you to come with me. If I can get out of this without hurting you any more, that's actually okay by me. But if you want to fight... well. I've had a shitty week and I wouldn't mind taking it out on somebody."

"Grav Bintok doesn't tolerate failure," she said. "I can't let you remove the prisoner."

"See, that's not really my problem," Tony told her. "If I were you, I'd let us go and then quit my job. I hate this planet, but since they let you out of the spaceport without a keeper, I'm guessing you'd be fine here." 

He caught her arm again as she struck at him, then shook his head as something clattered to the floor. "A knife, really? This Grav Bintok guy may not tolerate failure, but he hires idiots. I don't know what you were expecting that to do against armor." 

Tony held her arm behind her back, trying not to twist it any more than necessary. "Move," he said. They needed to get out of the area before the crew got here to investigate why she hadn't answered the intercom. 

"Friday," he said, "let me know where those life signs are." 

"The isolated one is still in its original location. Of the other three, one hasn't moved, but two are in the main corridor of the ship, coming in this direction." 

Okay. Aneth had been disarmed--assuming that her blaster and her knife were the only weapons she had on her, which wasn't a perfectly safe assumption. The two on their way were probably the goons she'd brought with her. The one staying put was most likely the pilot. He could handle this. Get Loki out of whatever they were using as a cell, throw Aneth in, deal with the other two--if he freed Loki, it'd be an even fight--and get out before the pilot came to find out what was taking so long. Easy. 

Right. Because things always went smoothly. 

"One heat signature moving in the direction of the isolated one. One turning toward the airlock." 

Good news: the goon squad had split up. Bad news: one of them was heading straight for them. 

Tony clamped his free hand over Aneth's mouth to keep her quiet. She bit down, then recoiled as much as she was able when her teeth clashed against metal. "I hope that felt like biting aluminum foil. Friday, anywhere nearby we can hide?" 

"There's something that appears to be an equipment locker just ahead. It should just be large enough for two people." 

Tony wrenched open the door of the locker--more of a small storage closet, really--and pushed Aneth inside first, then wedged himself in after her, pressing his gauntleted hand over her mouth again. "Not a word," he warned her. 

A minute or so later, he heard heavy footsteps in the corridor outside. They passed by, and then, distantly, he could hear a voice, then the beeping of the intercom and some unintelligible squawking. 

Tony let himself out of the equipment locker, fusing the door shut with a low-power repulsor blast. It wouldn't keep Aneth from shouting and trying to raise the alarm, but it'd keep her out of his way, and her crew ought to be able to cut her out later without any trouble. And it wasn't like the crew hadn't already been alerted that there was something going on. 

Right now, he wanted to get to Loki with a minimum of damage to the crew. They hadn't seemed, at least at the time, to be interested in harming Loki, though Tony wouldn't be willing to bet that their boss would have the same opinion. So the less he had to injure them, the better. 

Instead of pursuing whoever had passed by the equipment locker, Tony turned in the other direction, toward the area where Loki was presumably being held. 

Not being able to gag Aneth had its advantages, it turned out; she started pounding on the door and shouting for help, and Tony was able to get down the corridor and out of sight while her subordinate was distracted by trying to get her out. 

He followed Friday's directions to the cargo hold, which was divided into a few smaller compartments. "Friday, where's the rest of the crew?"

"Two heat signatures near the airlock," she reported. That would be Aneth and whoever was trying to get her out. "One moving this way rapidly. Two unmoved from their original positions." That would be Loki and the one Tony was assuming was the pilot, so he just had the one crew member to worry about at the moment. 

A door further down the corridor slid open, and Tony flattened himself against the wall. "Give yourself up," a woman's voice said. "We don't want any violence." 

"I'm okay with no violence," Tony said. "Let Loki go, and we'll walk away." 

She chuckled. "I don't think that's going to happen," she said, and then fired at him. This far into the interior of the ship, at least she wasn't going to cause a hull breach; the energy charge hit Tony's armored thigh and then was reflected back to leave a blackened streak of damage along the corridor wall. 

"Okay," Tony said, "now you're just pissing me off." He fired another low-power blast, this one aimed at the woman's lower leg. She screamed and sank to the floor as her leg buckled beneath her, but she kept her weapon aimed at Tony. 

"Drop it or I'll shoot it out of your hand," Tony said. Apparently this Bintok character didn't pay his security team enough for them to take any risks for him, because she dropped the gun straight away. 

Tony picked it up, pulled out what looked to be the power cartridge, and tossed the gun itself a little ways away. A repulsor blast took care of the gun itself, and Tony dropped the power pack. He hadn't wanted to destroy the gun with the charge in it in case it exploded, but it'd be harmless enough without the gun. 

"Okay, Friday, get me to Loki, and let's get the fuck out of here." 

"About five meters away, behind you." Tony turned back around and started up the corridor, past the woman on the floor, putting pressure on her bleeding calf. 

"You aren't going to get away that easily," she said. 

"Maybe, maybe not," he said. "I like my chances, though. And we'll contact your pilot on our way out, make sure he knows you need some help." 

She just laughed. "You do that." 

Tony turned away from her. "Which door, Friday?" 

"Second from the right." 

Tony hurried to the indicated door. "Loki, you in there?"

"I should have known it was you out there," Loki said. "It sounded like someone showing off." 

"That's no way to talk about your rescue party. Can you stay back from the door? I'm going to blast it open." 

When Loki responded, his voice was a little more muffled, like it was coming from farther away. "I'm in the far corner now."

"Boss?" Friday interrupted him. 

"Not now, Friday; I'm in the middle of a gallant rescue." Tony blasted the door--the locks were physical, not electronic--until there was a gaping hole where the locking mechanism used to be, then reached through to wrench it open. 

"It's important, boss," she said. 

Tony ignored her. Right now the important thing to do was to get Loki out of there. "You okay?" 

Loki was standing in the far corner of the empty room, leaning against the wall. He was still cuffed, though they'd removed the shackles on his ankles. "I'm unharmed. Though if you can get these off me," he said, holding up his hands, "I won't be able to say the same for Bintok's people." 

Tony let his helmet dissolve back into nanoparticles as he crossed the cargo hold to Loki. He wondered what Loki would have to say if Tony kissed him right now. Probably bitch at Tony to get the handcuffs off. 

"It's about time you got here," Loki said. "This was getting extremely boring." 

Tony just shook his head and began examining the cuffs. They were enough to limit Loki's movements, and clearly they were designed to suppress his magic, but Tony ought to be able to cut through them easily with a focused beam. "Hold very still," he warned Loki. "Friday, is five percent power going to be enough?" 

"Eight would be better," she said, "but you really need to listen."

"In a minute," he snapped. "Eight percent power, focused beam. Loki, I'm not kidding about holding still. I don't want to take your hand off." 

Loki held still enough that Tony managed to cut the cuffs off him with only one minor incident, a tiny slip of the beam that left a small reddened patch on Loki's wrist. "Sorry about that," Tony said. "Once we're out of here, I'll kiss it better if you want." 

"Let's just get moving," Loki said, producing his daggers from their dimensional pocket. "I didn't enjoy my last encounter with Grav Bintok, and I don't want a second one." 

"There's going to be a problem with that," Friday interjected, "as I've been trying to tell you for some time."

Tony sighed. "Okay, Friday. What problem?" 

"This ship is about to leave the planet's atmosphere." 

With his helmet down, Friday was audible to anyone around him, so he didn't have to relay the bad news to Loki. "Okay, what the hell are we going to do now?" Tony said. "Get where we're going and fight our way out of there? Take over the ship and force a landing?" 

Loki considered for a moment. "Your armor can handle space, correct?"

"For as long as the air and the power reserves hold out, yeah." 

"And re-entry?" When Tony nodded, he went on, "So we fight our way to the airlock." 

"What about you? I'm not jumping out of the airlock without you." 

"You won't have to. I'll be fine. You just concentrate on getting us back down to the ground." 

Fine. How the hell was Loki going to be fine if he went out of the airlock without a space suit? 

Something must have shown in Tony's face, because Loki said, "I can survive vacuum for short periods." 

"What about re-entry?" 

"That's a bit trickier," he acknowledged, "but that's what magic's for. Come on. Let's get out of here."

"And when we get back to Ghalus," Tony said, "you're going to tell me what you did that pissed this Bintok guy off." 

"Nothing he shouldn't have expected," Loki said. "Now let's get moving." 

The woman Tony had left in the corridor had managed to crawl away; the hall was empty, only the wreckage of her gun and a small bloodstain on the floor showing that she was ever there. Tony was glad to see that she hadn't bled much; the repulsor should have cauterized the edges of the wound. She was just someone doing her job, after all, and Tony _was_ willing to bet that Loki had screwed her boss over in some way. 

"This way," Tony said, leading the way back to the airlock. There was no sign of Aneth, either--the equipment locker was open, so presumably she'd gone to get first-aid treatment for her hand--but the remaining crew member was standing guard outside the airlock. 

"He's yours," Tony said. "My suit wasn't fully-charged when I started, so I can't afford to use any unnecessary power. Especially when we don't know for sure how the trip back down is going to go."

"I assume you don't want me to kill him," Loki said. 

"Not if you don't have to, no." 

Loki shook his head. "If you insist." He sent a blast of green light in the man's direction, freezing him in place even as he raised his weapon. Then, with a gesture, Loki sent him crashing to the ground. 

"He's not dead," he said to Tony immediately. "He'll wake up in an hour or so with a few bruises and a bad headache." 

Bruises and a headache seemed fair enough. "Right, so. Airlock?" 

"Exactly. I've enjoyed their hospitality long enough."

Tony stepped over the unconscious guard and opened the airlock door. Once it was sealed behind them and the light over the outer door was on, he turned to Loki. "How do we do this? For you, I mean. I know how to get myself back down there." 

"Hold onto me," Loki said.

"There's a time and a place, you know." Tony grinned at him. 

"I'm serious. I might lose consciousness briefly, and I don't want to drift off into space. I'll use magic to protect myself from the heat of re-entry, and I can handle vacuum for a brief period."

"How brief?" 

"Long enough that if we're not back to the surface by then, we'll have other problems." 

"Friday," Tony said, "how are we for power?"

"Reserves are at seventy percent. That should be more than sufficient for the return journey, with a significant margin for error." 

"Okay, then, plot a trajectory that will get us back to the spaceport." 

"On it, boss."

On impulse, Tony stretched up to give Loki a quick kiss. "Ready?"

Loki closed his eyes in concentration. A shimmer of light surrounded him for a moment, then disappeared as though absorbed into his body. "I'm ready." 

Tony re-formed his helmet, and the two of them made their way over to the door control. He wrapped his arms around Loki, tightly. "Hit the control," he said. 

When the door raised, Tony said, "Okay, on three. One, two..." He took an unnecessarily deep breath. "Three," he said, and they jumped. 

Tony would have thought that, with the number of times he'd been genuinely terrified in the past decade or so, the edge would have started wearing off. 

It really, really hadn't. 

Flying in the suit was no problem. He knew what he was doing; he trusted his engineering skill. But this was something different. This was not only trusting that the suit would keep him safe during re-entry, but that he'd be able to get Loki down safely as well. 

The air supply in his suit was holding out just fine; the readout on the HUD was still in the green as they entered the atmosphere. The temperature control was exceeding his expectations as well; the ambient temperature raised by a few degrees, but not anything like the intense heat being generated outside his suit upon reentry. There was no reason for his heart to be pounding this hard, or for him to have to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming during their descent. 

Loki had been right; he'd lost consciousness fairly quickly, so Tony focused his attention on making sure he didn't slip out of Tony's grasp. That had the welcome side effect of keeping his panic at bay, as well. He made himself catalog his observations about Loki--his clothing and skin were unburned, and Friday reported that while Loki wasn't breathing, his heart was still beating, albeit slowly. 

He was unharmed, Tony told himself repeatedly. Between his constitution (Tony tried to distract himself by working up the D&D stats for a [pseudo-] Asgardian, but it didn't help. CON 18, though, definitely) and the spell he'd cast, Loki was in no danger, and once they were on the ground and he could breathe normally again, he'd be fine.

And if someone had told him six months ago that he'd care this much, not just in a "people dying is generally bad," sense, about Loki's safety, Tony would have laughed so hard he'd have choked. 

As it was, he just kept reminding himself that Loki seemed to have a strong desire to keep himself in one piece, and he'd thought this was safe enough. Finally his feet were on the ground. 

Tony dispensed with his armor as soon as he was steady on his feet. Friday had guided him down to the same landing spot that Aneth's ship had been in; the spaceport was directly in front of him. "Fuck, you're heavy," he muttered, as he prepared to haul Loki toward the building. 

"Stay where you are," someone called. Tony squinted against the sunlight; there were six armed security guards coming out of the spaceport. "Hands over your head." 

"If I put my hands up, I'll drop him," Tony said, but he stood in place. Loki was breathing again, color returning to his face; he should be waking up soon, and the last thing Tony wanted was to get bitched at for dropping him instead of thanked for his daring rescue. 

"Identify yourselves." One of the guards stepped forward from the group, a stocky Ghalusian man with greying hair. 

"Tony Stark," he said. "Your government has heard of me. And this is Prince Loki of Asgard. Also my bondholder," he added. "We've already been here."

"The ship on this landing pad took off without proper clearance," the guard said. "And then flight control reported an unauthorized small craft coming in for a landing here." 

"That was us," Tony said. 

"You expect me to believe that?" 

"I don't really care what you believe," Tony said. "Your government allowed a foreign dignitary to be kidnapped from a government residence. Right now, all I want is a room in the offworlders' area in the spaceport until our ship comes back for us, because _I am fucking done with you people._ " 

It looked like the guard wasn't stupid. "Keep them covered," he said to the rest of his squad, and then stepped a small distance away, touching his earpiece. Tony couldn't hear his conversation, but it must have concerned them, the way the guy kept turning back to look at them and then away to continue his conversation. 

Loki had woken up, and if he was still leaning a little heavily on Tony even after he was standing on his own, well, Tony wasn't going to complain too much about that. 

"You okay?" Tony asked quietly. 

"Well enough," Loki said. "I take it we are, yet again, highly unpopular?" 

"Pretty much, yeah. I told them we want to stay in the spaceport. They can send our things. I'm not dealing with any more Ghalusian bullshit."

Loki shook his head. "If we're to keep the trade agreement, I'll have to--"

"Fuck the trade agreement," Tony said. "They let you be kidnapped." 

The guard had apparently finished getting new orders from HQ; he turned back to his squad and a moment later, their weapons were all holstered. Then he approached Tony and Loki. "Does His Highness need medical attention?" he said to Tony. 

"What a miracle. Someone who'll talk to mortals," Tony said under his breath. 

"We get all kinds here," the guard said. "I'm Security Captain Adgar. I've been instructed to offer you all necessary assistance. Allow me to offer my apologies; you'll understand why we were concerned at your arrival."

Loki had recovered enough to participate in the conversation. "I don't require assistance," he said. "My associate and I _do_ require a room in the offworlders' zone--one will do--and a comm link to the Commerce Minister's residence. And, perhaps, a meal? We've had an extremely trying day." 

"That can be arranged," Adgar said. "If you'll come this way?" 

Tony thought about asking to turn in his bond cuffs, but then realized that it would mean he'd be stuck in the spaceport if Loki insisted on leaving to cast those spells for the Ghalusian government. 

From Tony's perspective, the Ghalusians could go fuck themselves, but he did realize that the Asgardians might feel very differently. It wasn't his call, he decided, so he was going to keep the cuffs. Loki wasn't going anywhere on this planet without him. If he had to proclaim himself the royal bodyguard, that was what he'd fucking well do. 

Adgar had obviously had his ear chewed off by whatever superior he'd been in touch with, because he led them straight to the offworlder quarters. "This should be acceptable, I hope?" he said, keying in an access code on a panel by the door. Tony watched him carefully, just in case he "forgot" to give them the code and locked them in. 

It was a lot like every other hotel room Tony had ever seen: large bed, small couch, a wardrobe in the corner, a wide dresser. It was a nice enough room, though, and Tony realized that now that his adrenaline levels were returning to normal, he wouldn't mind falling over on the bed for a while. 

He couldn't let himself fall over on the bed, he told himself. Not yet. 

"The comm link?" Loki said. 

"You'll need a secure link, I presume? Otherwise, I can have someone show you how to use the comm." He gestured toward the desk, which had an interface built into it similar to the one that had been in their quarters at the minister's residence. 

"That will do," Loki said. "I just want to inform the minister of our change of residence." 

"I've been instructed to tell you that the costs of your stay here will be covered by the Ministry of Commerce," Adgar said. "There are restaurants and food kiosks spread throughout this wing of the spaceport, if you're hungry."

Loki seemed like he was about to say something else, but Tony cut in. "Yeah, thanks, great. We'll figure out how to make the call, but right now, if you could excuse us?" 

Adgar apologized a few more times for having his men pull their weapons on such a distinguished guest, but finally, Tony managed to get him out of the room. Jesus, he should have pretended to be a lot more annoying when he'd been impersonating Adgar earlier, if he wanted to be realistic.

"I did want to ask him about the comm link," Loki said once Tony had closed the door behind him. "Everything went through the Ministry staff before, but this will be a direct link, and every planet's system works a bit differently." 

"I can figure it out," Tony said as he pulled off the bond cuffs and dropped them on the nearby table. "I just want--" He broke off, deciding to let actions speak louder than words. He went over to Loki, kissing him deeply.

Loki kissed him back, then pulled away to look at Tony for a moment. "You were worried about me." 

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Uh, yeah? Possibly because you were marched out of the minister's residence by somebody's private police force and I had to rescue you? You might remember the part where we had to _jump out of a space ship._ " 

"I wasn't in any real danger," Loki said. "I'd have escaped sooner or later. I always do." 

Yeah, okay, that did sound accurate to reality as Tony knew it. He sat down on the bed, then let himself fall backward, stretching his back muscles. "So, what exactly did you do to this Bintok guy?" 

Loki sat down next to Tony on the bed. "Surprisingly little."

"He's been holding a grudge against you for fifty years. It can't be that little." Tony reached out and caught Loki's hand in his. "I jumped out of a space ship to rescue you. I think I deserve some answers." 

Loki closed his fingers around Tony's. "Fifty years isn't that long of a time to me, you know. Or to him." 

"It's longer than my entire life so far." Tony didn't want to think about that, though. "But what, specifically, is he angry at you about?"

"I won a bet," Loki said. "He thinks I cheated." 

"Did you cheat?" 

"Of course." Loki smiled at him. "Would you expect anything else?" 

Tony shook his head. "I don't know why I even asked." 

"It's his own fault that he bet something he couldn't stand to lose. Jewels," he added before Tony could ask. "I gather they had sentimental value for him."

"Family heirlooms?"

"He could just be very fond of jewels," Loki said. "I can't really imagine Grav Bintok having a family."

Tony sometimes found it hard to imagine _Loki_ having a family, though. Even though he knew Thor. It was hard to imagine Loki ever having anything like a normal life, even the normal life of a prince. "And he wants them back." 

"I expect so. Unfortunately, since I had no use for a set of jeweled hair-combs, no matter how valuable they were, I gave them to my mother as a birthday gift." 

Meaning they were presumably still on Asgard when it was destroyed, so Bintok was never going to get what he wanted. 

"I suspect," Loki went on, "that he was planning on taking their value out of me in extremely painful ways." 

"Is this kind of thing going to happen everywhere we go? People you've screwed over in some way wanting revenge?"

"Not everywhere." 

"Oh, great. Want to make a list of the three or four planets where someone doesn't want to beat you up, torture you, or just kill you?" 

"Ghalus was one of them. You see how well that turned out." Loki got up from the bed. "I do need to contact the minister."

"You're not going to still do their damn spells after they handed you over to Bintok's people," Tony said. 

"I may," he said. "It'll put Asgard in a much better negotiating position: we kept our agreement, even after you betrayed us." 

"Or it'll make you look so desperate that you'll keep the agreement even after they did that," Tony pointed out. 

"We _are_ that desperate," Loki said. "But given that a lot of our former trading partners are fairly sympathetic to Asgard at the moment, and that I'm very good at spreading information that I want to get out, I think the Ghalusian government will see our point." 

"This is the kind of stuff I pay Pepper to do," Tony said, "so I'll leave it to you." He went over to the desk and sat down, poking around on the comm interface until he figured out how to access the public link to the Ministry of Commerce. 

"You're all set. Make your call. I'm going to go get a shower." Even though he hadn't fully given way to his panic, he still felt clammy and sweaty. It'd have been better if he had clean clothes to change into--presumably, that was one of the things Loki was going to mention when he contacted the Minister's people--but any little bit would help. 

The bathroom was small, but clean, and it was easy enough to figure out the shower controls--easier than in half the hotel rooms Tony had stayed in on Earth, at least. He stripped off his clothes. From outside the bathroom, he could hear Loki's voice, but when he turned the water on, it drowned everything out. 

Tony stayed in the shower until he felt waterlogged; by then he was starting to feel normal again. Pissed off at the entire planet of Ghalus, but then again, that was pretty normal for him lately. And spending such a long time under the shower was a welcome change from the quick, water-conserving showers they could take on board ship. 

There weren't any towels, but Tony had already experienced that at the Ministry; there was a control in the shower that sent a gentle blast of warm air over him until he was mostly dry. Ordinarily, he'd have wrapped a towel around his waist when he came out of the bathroom--he didn't really feel like putting on his dirty clothes again yet--but oh, damn, that wasn't really an option. Guess he was just going to have to stroll into the room naked. Loki would just have to put up with the view. 

Despite his unconcern about that, Tony _did_ make sure to stay out of the line of sight of the computer interface on the desk. Nobody at the Ministry had earned this, he decided, grinning at Loki as he sat down on the bed. 

Loki nodded slightly, but otherwise ignored him as he finished his call. "Yes, we'll be expecting our belongings within the hour. Transport tomorrow? No, that's much too early. Much better," he concluded. "And you'll send that message to our ship on priority channels? Thank you, Minister." He ended the call and turned in his chair so that he could see Tony better. 

"So?"

"They're sending our things over here; I think the Minister understands why we're reluctant to trust her hospitality at the moment."

"What was that about transportation? You're not going back there." 

"I was hoping that _we_ were going back there," he said. "I've agreed to do some of the spellwork they originally wanted--the two cases where I'm strengthening and repairing an existing spell. I won't be doing the other, though; we've lost too much time." Smugly, he added, "And there'll be a seven percent increase in the amount of jethracite ore we'll be getting, as payment for my work. The Minister agreed that as I'm the only sorcerer Asgard can provide to do what they want, and I've no reason to trust them, a significant bonus is in order." 

"They're afraid you're going to tell the rest of the galaxy that Ghalus decided to screw over a bunch of refugees?" 

"Precisely. And they already aren't beloved by many of their trading partners, given that the 'mortal' races outnumber the longer-lived ones by a factor of at least twenty. I don't know how that news would affect the Ghalusians' standing in the galaxy, but apparently Jarmenil thinks it's worth taking seriously." 

Tony scooted over on the bed so that he was closer to Loki. "So you want me there for what? Bodyguard? Because I'm not giving my armor back." 

"Ostensibly, to finish checking over the initial shipment. But...yes. There aren't many people I'd trust to watch my back, St--Tony. You're one of them." 

And all the others, Tony thought, were probably on their ship, which was kind of depressing. Then again, did Tony have much more than that? Rhodey and Pepper. He trusted both of them implicitly. But beyond that--Peter was still a kid, Vision's allegiances were definitely divided, and everyone else he'd trusted... well. There was a reason why he'd found it easy to say yes to Thor's invitation. 

And that was much too depressing to contemplate, especially right now, in this room, with Loki. "As long as you understand that 'watching your back' is going to come with a significant component of 'looking at your ass.'" He gave Loki an exaggerated leer. 

Loki laughed. "I'd expect nothing less from you." 

"What did you say in that message to the ship?" 

"Just suggesting that they hurry up. Even if we aren't ready to leave, I think we'd both feel much better with them on the planet." 

Thor, Valkyrie, and Bruce--or the Hulk, if things got bad enough. Yeah, of course Tony would feel better with them there. "Bruce isn't going to like the whole 'bondservant' deal." 

"I imagine that Dr. Banner will remain on the ship unless there's an emergency," Loki said. 

True. That was what they generally did in situations where they thought the Grouchy Green Giant might come out; Bruce had picked up enough about piloting the ship to handle an emergency takeoff or landing, and it seemed to be standard procedure for the pilot, or someone competent to fill in, to stay with the ship. Bruce wouldn't have to deal with this. 

"Have we heard anything back from them after yesterday?" 

"Yes. They're on their way, all three of them. They were expecting to arrive late tomorrow night; that's why I asked them to try to hurry, even if it does mean wasting fuel." 

"So we'll be leaving tomorrow," Tony said. "Do you think we're being monitored here?" 

"In the public areas, almost certainly. In here? Possibly, but probably not. We were being monitored before because we were outside of the restricted part of the spaceport, and in an official government residence. Since these quarters are intended for offworlders who don't have a bond, there'd be no need to violate their privacy." 

"So, technically," Tony said, "even though I'll be going out into the city tomorrow, nobody would know if we dispensed with the formalities."

"No," Loki said. "I doubt they'd know. And, of course, they have evidence that we complied during our time at the minister's residence." He frowned, looking at Tony for the space of several heartbeats. "Do you want to 'dispense with the formalities'?" 

Tony grinned. "Not at all. I want to get dressed and then go find something to eat, but after that, I'm looking forward to _not_ dispensing with the formalities in the slightest." He paused. He could leave it there, as a joke, just him saying absurd things because he could. 

Or he could say what he'd been thinking, and face the consequences. They'd already decided this was something they wanted to continue, but did Loki realize that Tony's interest in him went beyond the admittedly memorable sex? 

Well. Tony had never been much for weighing his words before he said them. He might as well just go right ahead. "I just wanted to make it perfectly clear what that means. Tonight, whatever we do, it's not because we're required to. Nobody's ever going to know if we don't. It's because we want to. Or, at least, I want to." 

"I thought I'd made it clear that I did, as well." 

"Yeah, okay. But I was giving you one final chance to come to your senses." He grinned. "I'm apparently not the greatest person to be in a relationship with."

"You're also not the greatest person to be on a spaceship with," Loki said, "and yet, I've managed so far."

"Oh. Okay." As a reply, that seemed a little anticlimactic, but then again, Tony didn't _want_ to make a big deal of this. It was working fine, at least so far, the way it was. This wasn't going to be some kind of grand romance. They'd probably go on in much the same way they always had, except now sometimes they'd have sex. 

That would suit Tony just fine.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of comics bleed in here, which I usually try to avoid, but I love the bit in Avengers Prime when Tony reveals that he went to D&D camp _so much_ that I can't let go of Tony Stark, tabletop RPG nerd. <3 I generally assume that MCU!Tony was introduced to it at MIT. 
> 
>  
> 
> **Next time:** Not quite the ending, but close.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not quite the ending, but very close.

Chapter Eight

****

It still seemed like a perfectly good arrangement to Tony when they came back to their room later that evening. Their possessions had taken slightly longer to get there than the hour Loki had demanded, but eventually the two of them had been able to get changed and then go out to find something to eat.

The food had been fine--nothing like as good as what they'd eaten at the Minister's residence, but then again, it was basically airport food versus the creations of a skilled cook--and Tony had enjoyed people-watching. Loki couldn't identify all the alien races they saw, but he'd encountered more of them than Tony had, anyway, and could tell Tony a little about the different planets they came from. 

And now they were back in their quarters, the door locked behind them. "You know," Tony said, "you never actually thanked me for rescuing you today." 

"I'd have rescued myself in time," Loki said. "All you did was speed things up, and even then, only slightly." 

"Is that your idea of gratitude?" 

"Essentially, yes." Loki raised an eyebrow with the clear subtext of _What did you expect, Stark?_ "Do you have a problem with that?" 

"I do. I think there are _much_ better ways of expressing your appreciation." Tony grinned, stepping forward to close the distance between them. 

"Such as?" 

Tony twined his arms around Loki's neck, pulling him in for a kiss. "This, for a start." 

"And to follow? I can't imagine you'll be that easily placated." Loki kissed him back, nipping lightly at Tony's lower lip. 

Tony moaned, pressing himself against Loki's body. "I was thinking that since we're not being monitored here, we might want to switch things up a little?" He wasn't sure how Loki was going to react to that. Some guys had definite opinions about being fucked, and it wasn't like they'd really talked about it before. 

If that wasn't something Loki was into, it was fine. Tony was happy with the way things had been. It was just a thought. 

But Loki reacted with a sharp hiss of breath, and then another kiss, hard and hungry. "That's an excellent idea. There might be one problem, though." 

Tony was about to ask, "What problem?" when it dawned on him. "Think they put that little jar in our luggage?" He hadn't seen it earlier when he'd gone through their bags to make sure that none of his stuff had been left behind, but he could have missed it. All their stuff had been jumbled together, so it would have been easy to overlook something. 

"I didn't see it, but I'll look again."

They both made a quick check of their bags, but turned up nothing that they hadn't brought with them to the planet.

"We could go back out and look in one of the shops," Tony said, though leaving the room again didn't have a lot of appeal. "Surely one of them has something that would work." 

"We could," Loki said, in a tone of voice that suggested that he wasn't any more enthusiastic about it than Tony was. "Or we could leave that to another day?" 

Tony didn't know what the lube situation on board the ship was, but hell, they could always check out the spaceport shops tomorrow. If they had to start requesting it to be added to their supply runs, though, he was going to make _Loki_ have that conversation with Valkyrie, who usually took charge of getting supplies, while Tony sat back and watched. And laughed. 

"I can wait." Especially now that he knew Loki was in favor of the idea. "Got any better ideas?" 

Loki smirked down at him, then pushed Tony onto the bed before dropping to his knees.

No doubt as to what Loki's better idea was, then, and Tony was _definitely_ in favor of that. 

He couldn't resist saying, "I thought the idea was that the puny mortals were supposed to kneel before you, though?" 

"Oh, given your earlier enthusiasm for the task, I'm sure we'll get back to that eventually," Loki said. So was Tony, for that matter. But right now, Loki was tugging at Tony's zipper, getting his pants open and then reaching in to take Tony's cock out. 

Tony was half-hard already, and Loki's hands on him--fingers teasing him with light, feathery strokes--soon made him stiffen further. Loki lowered his head, licking a stripe along the length of Tony's cock, then looking up with a self-satisfied expression when Tony moaned. 

He thought Loki would take him into his mouth now, but instead, he went back to stroking Tony's cock, just enough to tease but definitely not _enough_. The occasional swipe of his tongue wasn't enough either, unless your goal was to be completely maddening. Of course, all things considered, that was likely to be Loki's goal. Jackass.

Tony groaned again as Loki stubbornly refused to settle into a rhythm or do more than tease him. "Dammit," he began, then trailed off as Loki traced a vein on the underside of Tony's cock with his tongue. 

"Something you want?" Loki asked, his voice warm and amused. 

"Obviously." 

"All you have to do is ask," Loki said, turning his head slightly to place a kiss on Tony's inner thigh. 

"It's not like you don't know what I want," he argued, as Loki worked his way up Tony's thigh, then took Tony's balls into his mouth, though all too briefly. 

" _Loki,_ " he protested. 

"Just ask." Loki lapped at the head of Tony's cock, tonguing the slit until Tony whimpered. 

Okay, fine. He'd ask. That wasn't an excessive demand, no matter how annoying it currently felt. "Are you actually going to suck my cock at any point tonight?" 

There, he'd asked. 

"Ask _nicely_ , and maybe I will." 

"That was nice." 

Loki just shook his head and went back to methodically driving Tony right up the walls. 

God damn it. "Fine, you win," Tony muttered, and Loki pulled back again, looking expectantly up at him. " _Please,_ " he said. "Please, stop teasing me. Please, suck my cock. Is that good enough?" 

"You really need to work on your begging," Loki said, "but we can practice that later. For now, yes, that's good enough." And now, finally, his mouth engulfed Tony's cock, his hand wrapping around the base as he began to suck.

Tony rapidly decided that if someone told him that the reason Loki was called "Silvertongue" was because of his cocksucking ability, he'd have no choice but to believe them. Fuck, he could feel himself losing IQ points from sheer pleasure as Loki sucked him, hard and deep, while Loki stroked him in time with the slide of his mouth up and down Tony's cock. 

Tony's hips stuttered forward, and Loki's free hand pushed him back down, holding him still. Tony tried his best to comply. Not that fucking Loki's mouth wasn't one hell of a temptation, but right now, he was happy to let Loki do whatever he wanted, at least as long as the results continued to feel like this. 

Tony wasn't sure how long it had been before he felt himself getting close to coming--thirty seconds? Five minutes? A week and a half? They all felt equally likely; Tony didn't have the greatest sense of time to begin with, not when he was absorbed by something, and this was unbelievably absorbing--but eventually he had to gasp, "Now, Loki, dammit."

He wouldn't have minded if Loki had pulled off him and finished him with his hand, but he was definitely pleased when instead, Loki just sucked harder, his hand slipping down between Tony's legs to play with his balls, until Tony cried out and came down Loki's throat.

Tony let himself flop backward on the bed, legs still dangling over the side. "You know," he said after a minute, "the Ghalusians really need to expand their list of approved ways to subdue a mortal. I don't think I could be aggressive or over-emotional for, like, a week. I'm too busy lying here being _really_ pleased with life." 

Loki laughed, and got on the bed with Tony, tugging at him until Tony pulled his legs up onto the bed and then nudging him until he was lying in the right direction. "I hope you're not too busy to return the favor." He took Tony's hand and pressed it against his hard cock, the heat of it noticeable even through Loki's pants.

"Yeah," Tony said, "I can definitely do that." He was feeling kind of boneless and exhausted right now, though, so he said, "Decision time, though: do you want to wait until I can move properly, and get a blow job, or let me jerk you off now and then suck your cock later tonight?" 

"I'm not especially good at waiting," Loki said, which was not exactly news to Tony. "Also, doesn't that mean I get to have you twice?"

"Good choice." Tony ran his hand over the bulge of Loki's erection. "And I promise, I'll make sure that blow job is worth waiting for." He got Loki's pants open, reaching in and curling his hand around Loki's cock. "You've definitely earned it."

Loki's breathing was already harsh and rapid, and he shifted forward, pressing into Tony's hand. "You don't have to draw this out," he said. 

"Oh, I know I don't." Tony grinned. "But what if I want to?" He kept his grip loose, sliding his hand slowly along Loki's shaft. 

"Bastard." Loki arched his back, fucking up into Tony's fist. 

Tony laughed. "Karma's a bitch, huh?" But he didn't really want to make Loki wait, even if it would be fair after Loki's earlier treatment of him. He'd tease him later. He rolled over onto his side, pulling Loki into a deep kiss as he tightened his grip on Loki's cock, speeding up the pace of his strokes. 

"That's more like it." Loki kissed him back, moaning against Tony's mouth as Tony dragged his thumb over the head of Loki's cock. 

"So glad you approve." Tony kissed his way down Loki's jaw to his throat, nipping lightly at the skin. Not hard enough to mark, not even for a human, but enough that Loki felt it, tipping his head back to allow Tony easier access. 

Tony kept his hand moving on Loki's cock, savoring each of the moans and gasps he drew out of Loki, until Loki arched up again, groaning loudly as he came. 

Tony waited until Loki fell back against the mattress before kissing him again. "How's that for a first installment?" 

"Not bad at all," Loki admitted, wrapping an arm around Tony to pull him close. "I don't have any complaints."

That had to be a miracle, Tony thought, but he didn't say anything. It was too much of an effort to do anything other than lie there, curled next to Loki, and close his eyes.

****

Tony was only a little surprised at how smoothly the day had gone. Some of it might have been that they were both in good moods after the night before; Tony had more than followed through on his promise.

Even the necessity of putting the cuffs back on didn't feel too onerous, thanks to the knowledge that this would be the last time he needed to do that. In addition, the Ministry had bent over backward to be accommodating, from the transport they'd sent in the morning to bring them from the spaceport; to the lack of objection when Tony left the spaceport with the casing for the nanotech particles clearly visible; to the relocation of all the ore and equipment Tony was going to be checking over to a room that adjoined the chamber where Loki would be working. 

That wasn't all that shocking, really, not if the Ghalusians really didn't want to be seen as taking advantage of a bunch of desperate (or desperate-ish, anyway) refugees. But what was shocking was that _nothing_ seemed to be going badly; Tony had checked every crate and found exactly what was supposed to be there. The girl who'd brought up a lunch tray for him had apparently been chosen for her willingness to look a dangerous untamed mortal in the eye, and even to speak to him briefly. 

And, just as Tony was about to sit down to eat, the door to the next room had opened and Loki had come through, carrying his own tray. "I was hoping you were taking a break," he said. 

"You're done?" 

"With the first spell," Loki said. "The second one is simpler; it only needs reinforcement and not modification." 

Good, Tony thought, because there were shadows under Loki's eyes that hadn't been there that morning, and he looked paler than normal. "Have you heard anything about when the others are arriving?" If Loki was going to be done by mid-afternoon, they could easily be off the planet by nightfall, as long as the ship was there. 

Loki looked up from the piece of meat he was cutting. "No, but I wouldn't. I left strict orders that I wasn't to be disturbed."

"How did you get your lunch, then?" Tony asked. They'd even remembered that he didn't want the pink floral tea to drink, without being reminded. 

Loki gave him a look that Tony interpreted as "you are a hopeless idiot." "I called downstairs and told them we were ready for them to bring up our meals?" 

Okay, maybe they _had_ been reminded about the pink stuff. Still, that meant _Loki_ had remembered. Tony was terrible about remembering things about other people--even people he was dating--which, he supposed, explained why he didn't expect anyone else to remember them, either. 

Who knew that Loki would have been better at this kind of crap than he was? (Probably Pepper, who assumed _everyone_ was better at it than Tony was, and had some evidence on her side. But Tony certainly wouldn't have.) At least since Tony didn't expect it, it came as a pleasant surprise. 

They settled down to their meal, exchanging observations about the food and about that morning's work. Just like they probably would have if they'd been eating at the same time on the ship, Tony thought. Technically, nothing much had changed between them. 

Technically. 

Then Tony realized that Loki was watching him, his eyes following the movements of Tony's hands; realized, too, that noticing that had made him start to smile. 

_Technically_ , Tony thought, didn't really cover the actual situation very well at all. 

They took their time over their meal; Tony dawdled in part because he guessed that Loki would stay in here until Tony was finished, and he wanted to give Loki a decent break. The other part, of course, was because it wasn't like he had anything else to do that afternoon, other than sit around in here or possibly ask if he could sit in the corner of the next room and watch Loki at work. 

Or possibly not have to ask, because the next thing Loki said was, "Are you done in here?" 

"Yeah. Like I said, everything checks out okay. There'll probably be a few dud parts, there always are, but I'm guessing it'll be a fairly low percentage, well within the expected margin. Things get damaged in transit, there's a flaw that doesn't turn up on inspection, you know how it is." He shrugged. "I can check them over again, I suppose. Nothing else to do today." 

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were interested in trying to figure out 'how magic works'?" 

"Yeah, and you keep telling me I wouldn't understand in a million years." 

"Perhaps not quite that long; a few hundred years might be enough. Regardless, are you capable of being quiet for an hour or two?" 

"How quiet are we talking? Absolute silence, or just 'shh, you're in a library'? Because if it means getting to watch you work, I could probably manage the latter." 

Loki put his cup back down on the tray. "Are you finished eating?" 

Tony wasn't, quite, but he picked up the half-eaten sandwich he'd constructed from the food on his tray. "I can eat quietly, too." 

"I could wait," Loki said, but he was already on his feet, leading Tony through into the other room, so clearly Tony wasn't meant to take that as a genuine offer. 

It didn't look like anything much had happened there that morning; certainly not anything that should have left Loki looking that drained. At least some of the color was back in his face, and he'd started looking a little less weary before they'd got up from the table. 

"Where do you want me?" Tony said. 

"Anywhere but that chair," Loki said, gesturing toward a chair that had been placed before a low table. The table was clear except for two--well, they looked like the kind of thing that decorators called _objets d'art_ because you could charge more for those than for "damned if I know, but it'll look nice on this shelf, won't it?" One looked like it was made of bronze; the other appeared to be carved stone. 

"Those are the spells?" Tony asked, picking what looked like a comfortable chair that would give him a good view of what Loki was doing.

"No," Loki said, "those are what I'm casting the enchantments on, so that I don't have to physically travel outside the city. The Ghalusians will put them in place before doing the final step required to activate the spells." 

"Like an amulet, or a talisman, that kind of thing? You enchant the object, then the spell works wherever it is?" 

"Precisely like that," Loki said as he took his seat in front of the table. "I'm surprised you're familiar with the concept."

"I played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons when I was younger," he explained, although he knew that wouldn't actually count as an explanation where Loki was concerned. Loki didn't ask him for clarification, though. Probably for the best; explaining tabletop role-playing games to Loki was a more time-consuming process than they should really get into at the moment. Or, really, ever. 

"There isn't going to be a great deal to see," Loki warned him, "and it probably isn't going to tell you anything at all about how my magic works." 

"Can I record it?"

"You have a recording device with you?" 

"Of course. Her name's Friday."

Loki shook his head. "I don't mind, though I doubt you're going to get anything useful. But you're going to sit here for hours wearing your armor?"

Tony concentrated briefly, and part of his helmet formed--just on one side of his head, extending down to his forehead but not covering his face. "Okay, Friday, record," he said. "Sound as well as picture, plus full-spectrum energy readings." Then he grinned at Loki. "I'm going to sit here for hours wearing a very small part of my armor." 

"All right, then," Loki said. "The sooner I get started, the sooner we'll be free to leave here." He picked up a printed sheet that had been lying on the table--it was that flimsy translucent stuff the Ghalusians used for paper, which had made it easy for Tony to overlook it before--and examined it for a moment; to remind himself of precisely what the Ghalusians wanted from him, Tony assumed. 

Loki was right, though: there wasn't a lot to see, even once he got started. Friday was recording, and Tony would probably get useful data from her energy readings, but what there was to the unaided eye was just Loki, sitting in a chair, holding a rock in one hand and occasionally gesturing oddly with the other. Sometimes there was a wash of light--green most of the time, golden a time or two, once deep red--over the stone, but most of the time, there was nothing. 

Because Friday was recording, though, Tony didn't have to pay close attention in case he missed the one moment where something interesting might happen. He finished his sandwich, then settled back comfortably in his chair, watching Loki work. 

Even though he didn't have the faintest idea of what Loki might be doing, he was fascinated anyway: by the intense concentration on Loki's features (he'd never seen Loki concentrate that hard on magic before--he'd turned himself into a bird without breaking a sweat, so Tony figured this spell was either very unfamiliar, very complicated, or both); by the occasional movement of his lips, though whatever he was saying wasn't audible to Tony; by the sureness in his gestures. 

He wondered if--especially if an observer couldn't see the computer displays of what he was working on--he'd look equally incomprehensible, working in his lab, or in his makeshift workshop in the engine room. 

Maybe, if Loki wanted, Tony could set up another chair in there, just because fair was fair. Maybe Loki wouldn't mind listening to him talk about what he was doing. He wouldn't have minded listening to explanations from Loki, though he understood that this wasn't the right time for that. Next time, maybe. Or he could see if Loki would do some magic for him in the lab, with Friday recording and analyzing the data. 

Tony had expected the afternoon to pass slowly, but he'd been watching Loki so intently that he hadn't realized that time was going by as quickly as it did. It didn't seem like it had been even half an hour when Loki set the carved stone talisman down on the table again and stretched, rolling his shoulders. 

"Done already?" Tony said. 

"It's been nearly three hours," Loki told him. "It took a little more time than I'd expected, but I ran into a few difficulties." 

"Friday, stop recording," Tony said, and made his helmet disappear. "Everything work out all right?"

"Fine, in the end," he said. "They'll be quite satisfied with what I've done. I just had to take a slightly different approach to the one I'd planned."

"So what now?" 

"Now I hand these over to the Minister, and we wait for Thor and the others to arrive."

"We should probably wait here," Tony said. "He's going to want to see Jarmenil, isn't he? And I think it'd be good for us to be there when he does, to make sure he gets an accurate picture of what happened yesterday." 

Loki nodded. "That's a good point, though I'd have thought you'd rather wait in the spaceport, where you can take the cuffs off." 

"I would," he admitted, "but even more than that, I want to make sure Thor hears the truth about what happened, before she comes up with a plausible explanation that makes Ghalus look good. I know she's been extremely apologetic, but that's almost what worries me. She's going to figure out a way to convince Thor it was some kind of honest mistake."

"All right, then," Loki said. "We'll wait here."

****

In the end, they didn't have that long to wait. When Loki contacted the Minister's office, the flunky on the other end of the intercom told him that their ship had just been granted permission to land, and by the time Loki had drunk more of that appalling tea and eaten the cheese and fruit he'd asked the kitchens for--that, plus half an hour or so lounging with his head resting on Tony's shoulder, had taken him from looking exhausted again to merely like someone who'd had a long day--they were told that Thor was on his way to the Minister's residence.

To Tony's surprise, Loki didn't move. "Have him shown in here when he arrives," he told the young woman who'd brought the news when she came to remove the tray. "I wish to greet my brother before he speaks with the Minister." 

"You planning to stay like this when Thor's here?" Tony said once she'd gone. 

"I might," Loki said. "It's comfortable enough." 

"I never realized that my life's calling was to be a pillow." 

"Better late than never?" Loki grinned up at him. "Thor's going to know about this sooner or later," he went on. "All of this, I mean--the service bond, what we had to do in order for you to leave the spaceport. He might as well find out the whole truth immediately. It'll save him asking a thousand deeply concerned and irritating questions." 

Tony sincerely doubted it was going to stop Thor asking questions--and it was a little worrying to think that the God of Thunder might be cornering him soon to ask him what his intentions toward Thor's little brother were--but then again, it was an easy way to make the situation clear, he supposed. 

And it was, because it wasn't fifteen minutes later that the same Ghalusian woman escorted Thor into the room. "Will you be requiring anything?" she asked. "Refreshment, perhaps, after your journey?"

"No, thank you," Thor said, or at least Tony assumed that was what he'd started to say; he didn't get farther than "No, tha--" when he saw Loki, who'd slid down a bit further on the couch so that he was lying with his head on Tony's lap. "Brother!" he exclaimed, striding over to the couch. "Are you injured? What has happened?"

Loki sat up, shaking his head. "I'm fine, you fool. I was simply resting." 

"Then Stark wasn't tending your wounds?" 

Now it was Tony's turn to shake his head, laughing a little. "Run that picture through your mind again, Thor, and see if you come up with the right answer this time." He braced himself; there'd been more than once in his life that someone had decided that their friend or relative would be better off kept well away from Tony Stark. 

But Thor only frowned for a moment, and then beamed at them both. "Then you have enjoyed your time here, I take it." 

"I wouldn't say that," Tony muttered, "but it wasn't all bad. Just _most_ of it. Like the kidnapping our hosts helped to arrange."

"Kidnapping? What has been going on here?"

"Sit down," Loki told him. "This is going to take more than a minute or two to explain."

Thor sat down, and Loki sat up to glare at him. "What do you know about Ghalusian service bonds?" 

Thor frowned. "Probably the same thing you do? We were sitting side by side while our tutor explained the cultures of this sector to us." 

"Oh, no," Loki said. "I know a great deal more about them, now." 

"Obviously, since you've been here. Assume I know what you did when you got here, then," Thor said, "and get on with it." 

"What Loki's trying to get at," Tony said, "is whether or not you knew he was going to have to fuck me on a daily basis. Probably so he can decide whether or not he needs to stab you, or just yell at you for a while." 

Tony really would have loved to have gotten a picture of Thor's face at that particular moment. It definitely confirmed what they'd both suspected: Thor hadn't had a clue. 

"Believe me, my friend," Thor said once he'd finished gaping like a dying fish, "if I'd had any idea whatsoever that you would be expected to--that the Ghalusians required that of visitors to their planet--I would never have--" 

"I get that," Tony told him. "You'd have warned us, at least." 

"I wouldn't have sent you," Thor protested. 

Tony shrugged. "We needed that ore, right? Loki said we could get the electronics elsewhere, but the ore's rare."

"Loki could have gone alone, or the Valkyrie could have come with him." 

"I couldn't have handled the market on Freyne the way Val can," he said, "and anyway, it's over and done with now." Then he looked at Loki. "And good thing for you that I was here, because Val probably would have let Grav Bintok keep you." 

Loki winced. "Was it necessary to bring that up?" 

"Yes," Thor said. "What did you do to run afoul of one of the Gravs?"

"What does anyone do?" Loki said. "You know Bintok's reputation. It doesn't take much to get on his bad side." 

Tony couldn't resist. "Yeah, who'd have thought that cheating on a bet with him would get him angry?" 

"You're going to pay for that," Loki muttered under his breath; Tony briefly considered responding with "and after the spankings, the oral sex?" but realized that Monty Python jokes were wasted on Asgardians. 

Thor just shook his head mournfully at his brother, sighing. "Again?"

"None of this was my fault," Loki said immediately. "He knew my reputation, and still made his bets on the assumption that I _wouldn't_ cheat him?" 

"And Tony came to your rescue," Thor said, clapping Tony on the shoulder hard enough that it smarted. "Very well done."

"I suppose you could say that."

"I jumped out of a spaceship for you," Tony reminded him. "You'd damn well better say that."

"The Minister has been extremely apologetic since then," Loki said, like Tony wasn't even in the room. "To the point where we negotiated slightly more favorable terms than the ones I mentioned in my first message to you."

"Still," Thor said. "The insult of allowing you to be removed from the planet during a diplomatic mission--I should ask for a formal apology, at the very least."

"Nah," Tony said. "Loki did kind of ask for it." He grinned at Loki, who shot him a glare that could have killed someone. Tony, for choice. "And we did handle things without much difficulty."

Loki was still glaring at him, but Thor nodded. "You're probably right. Still, it is something I'll remember in the future, when we have any further dealings with the Ghalusians." He got to his feet. "And now, I should meet with the Minister before we leave. Will you accompany me, or--?"

"No," Loki interrupted. "I need to speak with Tony. Something about my asking to be taken prisoner?" 

Yep, he was in trouble. He was probably going to be in trouble for the rest of this voyage, for that matter--if not for that, for something else. 

At least, Tony thought, as he prepared himself for an argument, it was going to be all the best _kind_ of trouble.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said in the notes to the last chapter, thanks to Avengers Prime, I just want all Tonys throughout the multiverse to be D&D nerds. (I say this as someone who has spent a lot of their life rolling dice. It's not an insult.)


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And they lived... well, maybe not happily ever after, but close enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's been reading! 
> 
> This chapter's very short. Chapter 8 was originally the end, but it didn't feel quite finished to me, so I wrote this at some point in the revision process.

****

To Tony's surprise, they managed to get off Ghalus without further incident.

It was a close call, though that hadn't been either his or Loki's fault; it was Thor's. His meeting with Minister Jarmenil had, to understate the matter, not gone well. 

It had gone loudly, though. Tony and Loki had remained behind, as they'd intended, while Thor met with the Minister in her office down the corridor. Even over the sound of Loki bitching at him for saying the kidnapping was Loki's own fault, Tony had been able to hear Thor bellowing at Jarmenil about her sheer effrontery in allowing Thor's heir to be taken prisoner by Grav Bintok.

Tony wasn't sure if the title "Grav" meant that the person in question was a crime lord, or if Bintok just held that title _and_ was a crime lord, but apparently he was a crime lord, either way. Because of course Tony would go and fall in love with the kind of idiot who would cheat on a bet with a crime lord who had his own interplanetary security force.

Tony hadn't said anything about the "falling in love" thing. He wasn't sure when he would, or even _if_ he would. But he was smart enough to recognize the signs, anyway. 

He didn't really mind.

Thor had shouted at Jarmenil for a while, then the meeting had gotten quieter. And _then_ Thor had come back to tell them that he had been granted an audience with the Ghalusian prime minister. 

Actually, that wasn't how Thor put it. Tony hadn't really seen that much of Thor in full "king mode" before, unless you counted Thor insisting that as his loyal subject, Val was obliged to allow Thor to have the last of the Pop-Tarts they'd brought from Earth. But according to Thor, he had graciously granted an audience to the Prime Minister to allow him to explain how he had allowed such a hostile act to take place on his planet. 

"Do we get to watch?" Tony asked. 

"I think it would be better if you and Loki returned to the ship," Thor said. "The Ghalusians do have those ridiculous prejudices against mortals."

"I'm not a mortal," Loki protested. 

"No," Thor said, "but I suspect you'd have a good deal to say about their treatment of Tony. Or have I misread the situation?"

Loki glowered at him, but subsided. 

"Besides, having you both there may confuse the issue. I'm not here to protest that you were made to take a service bond--"

"Well, _I_ definitely want to complain about that," Tony said. 

"I understand your anger, believe me. But if we'd had better information, we'd have known what you were getting into. Loki could have come alone, or you could have stayed in the spaceport. I don't like it--I had been under the impression that these days, it was largely a formality, kept in place for tradition's sake--and since the people of Earth are our valued allies, we'll be reconsidering how much trade we have with Ghalus going forward. But in requiring us to conform with their laws, Ghalus did not offer insult to Asgard. In ignoring all the rules of diplomacy and allowing my envoy, my _brother_ , a prince of Asgard, to be taken..." 

Tony could see the point. Besides, getting back to the ship was just a step away from getting off this shithole planet. He could hand the bond cuffs back to the spaceport and put this entire episode behind him. 

Well, not everything, obviously, but everything other than Loki. 

So while Tony was a little bit sorry to have missed the sight of Thor ripping the Prime Minister a new one, he also didn't put up much of an argument. Thor would probably rehash the whole conversation a few dozen times in the next couple of weeks, anyway. 

Having an outraged thunder god-slash-Asgardian king on their side cut through a lot of red tape; Pharen, the annoying bureaucrat from their arrival, met them as soon as they entered the spaceport. "Your belongings have already been put on board your ship, Your Highness," he said to Loki. "If your bondservant will return his manacles, you'll be free to depart." 

"I'm sorry," Loki said, smirking at Tony. "If you want him to do anything, you're going to have to tell him yourself. I can't make him do anything."

"That's right, you can't." Tony turned to Pharen. "Well?" 

"Return your manacles," he said wearily. 

"Ask me nicely," Tony said. Maybe it wasn't fair to hassle a guy who was clearly just doing an incredibly boring job, but eye contact and the word "please" wouldn't kill him. Given that Tony was holding a grudge against his entire fucking civilization at the moment, he didn't feel like he was asking for too much. 

"Sir," Pharen got out through gritted teeth, "if you would please return the manacles so that I can terminate your service bond?" 

"With pleasure," Tony said, taking the cuffs off and handing them over. Pharen scanned them quickly and then offered them a tablet like the one they'd used to agree to the bond in the first place, so that they could sign the paperwork terminating the service bond. 

Once they'd handed it back to him, Tony grinned at Loki. "I now pronounce us equals again." 

Loki snorted. "In your dreams," he said. "I'm clearly superior to you. Not because you're mortal and I'm not, but just because I'm me and you're you." 

"I'm going to enjoy proving you wrong," he said. "And I'll only make you grovel a little bit when I do." Then, as they neared the exit that would lead them to the ship, he said, "So, should we just get this over with? With Bruce and Valkyrie, I mean. They're going to find out about us before long, even if Thor doesn't tell them, because there's no way you're going to be able to keep your hands off me." 

"Do you really want to make that sound so much like a challenge? Remember, if I choose not to touch you in order to prove a point, you're going to suffer even more than I do." 

"Not really," Tony said, "but if that's what you need to believe, sure, we can try that. But not yet. I want to see the look on Bruce's face when I grope you in front of him." 

"You're a child, aren't you?" 

"Says the guy who has already admitted, repeatedly, to pranking his brother," Tony said, pleased to see that Loki was laughing along with him.

It was amazing how much walking toward the ship felt like going home. 

It was amazing how much walking next to Loki felt like he was already there. 

He knew he'd been right: the future was going to be full of all the best kinds of trouble.

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the story of this fic. 
> 
> A long, long time ago--the mid-1990s--in one of my former fandoms, an author using the pseud "Pat Jacquerie" posted a fic called "[Duty](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14253546)." 
> 
> It got a lot of attention for multiple reasons: the author in question was personally loved by a lot of the fandom; she had spent many years in multiple fandoms being a het-only writer (not negative toward slash writers, just not doing it), and this was her first M/M fic; it was a relatively rare pairing in a fandom with two competing slash juggernauts; it was mostly pretty good. (There were some things about it that weren't all that good, too, or at least that held up very badly over time, and those get focused on a lot when people bring it up these days, but nobody and no fic are perfect.)
> 
> It was one of the first few Aliens Made Them Do It fics that I'd read--it wasn't as popular of a genre back then, despite the fact that the fandom in question literally had an attempt by some aliens to Make Them Do It--and for a lot of reasons (the author was a friend of mine, I spent a lot of time with her at cons, we talked a lot about her fic, I liked its treatment of one of my favorite characters, etc), that particular story stuck in my head a lot. 
> 
> And at some point, I decided I wanted to write something based on one of the major ideas in it: that there was a planet out there where, for ~Reasons, the ship in question had to have sex, at least once a day, because It Was The Law. Once I started trying to translate it to Tony and Loki, a lot of things had to change, the planet got a lot creepier, the dubcon aspects became more obvious, the rules had to change somewhat, etc. But it started out as, "Yeah, this is a cool idea for AMTDI."
> 
> There were a lot of other things that contributed--reading a fic that involved magical mind control handcuffs that never even got accidentally used for magical mind control, deciding that I really wanted to put Tony on a ship with the Revengers (there's another story that should be posted in the next few months that's a TOTALLY DIFFERENT version of "Tony on a ship with the Revengers" because I've never met an idea I didn't want to write at least a dozen different ways), etc--but that was where it started.
> 
> Pretty sure that if Pat were still alive, she would be okay with my taking inspiration from her fic. 100% sure that she would be, as she always did, affectionately teasing me for my terrible taste in favorite characters/ships.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Dreamwidth](https://mireille719.dreamwidth.org) or [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/Mireille%22).


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